Kamala Harris Raises $200 Million in Donations in a Week

US Vice President Kamala Harris/PHOTO via Instagram @ kamalaharris

JAKARTA - The campaign of US presidential candidate Kamala Harris has managed to raise USD 200 million (equivalent to IDR 3.2 trillion) in one week since Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy.

As much as 66 percent of the funds came from first-time donors who touted grassroots support for Kamala Harris' candidacy.

The campaign team said the support had been expanded to attract volunteers. It was reported that more than 170,000 new volunteers had joined since Kamala Harris' announcement that she had received Biden's support to run in the US presidential election last week.

"Vice President Harris has only been a candidate for less than a week, but she has already united the entire Democratic Party in her campaign and the organic enthusiasm from the grassroots is starting to bear fruit," said Harris' Campaign Communications Director, Michael Tyler, writing in a memo reported by CBS News, Monday, July 29.

The fundraising was carried out after the campaign team said they had raised more than USD 100 million the day after Biden announced he was withdrawing from the candidacy.

In the days that followed, Harris received endorsements from across the party, including individuals who see her as a White House contender, and won the support of 4,000 party delegates who pledged their votes.

On Saturday, July 27, Harris attended her first major fundraiser since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. The party will officially choose its new nominee in early August through a virtual vote.

Harris said she received a lot of donations, especially from Democrats, at the event in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

The fundraiser raised $1.4 million, according to Harris campaign officials, surpassing her initial goal of $400,000.

The incident occurred as part of what the campaign called a "weekend of action" taking place 100 days before Election Day.

Harris is expected to select her running mate in the coming days. Her campaign has begun a "thorough" screening process, her campaign manager told CBS News.

Multiple sources confirmed the list of potential running mates includes Governors Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota, as well as Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.