WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Kamala Harris's election campaign announced on Sunday that it has raised $200 million and gained 170,000 new volunteers in the week following her selection as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate. This comes as Republicans continue to criticize Harris for her tenure as vice president.
President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign last Sunday and endorsed Harris for the November 5 election against Republican former President Donald Trump.
"In the week since we got started, @KamalaHarris has raised $200 million. 66% of that is from new donors. We've signed up 170,000 new volunteers," Harris' deputy campaign manager, Rob Flaherty, posted on X.
Recent polls, including one by Reuters/Ipsos, show Harris and Trump nearly tied, indicating a tightly contested campaign over the remaining 100 days until the election.
In early July, Trump's campaign reported raising $331 million in the second quarter, surpassing the $264 million raised by Biden's campaign and its Democratic allies during the same period. At the end of June, Trump's campaign had $284.9 million in cash on hand, while the Democratic campaign had $240 million.
Harris has secured the support of a majority of delegates to the Democratic National Convention, likely ensuring her nomination as the party's presidential candidate next month.
"So our vice president is the presumptive nominee. We will have the official vote on August 1," Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison told MSNBC on Sunday.
Biden withdrew from the race amid concerns about his age and health following a poor debate performance against Trump in late June. He pledged to remain in office until his term ends on January 20, 2025.
Harris's entry has revitalized a campaign that had struggled with doubts about Biden's ability to defeat Trump or govern effectively if reelected.
Polls showed Trump leading Biden, including in battleground states, after Biden's debate performance. However, Harris's entry has shifted the dynamics.
A New York Times/Siena College poll published Thursday found Harris narrowing Trump's lead, while a Wall Street Journal poll published Friday showed Trump with a two-point lead over Harris. A Reuters/Ipsos poll published July 23 showed Harris leading by two points.
Republican attacks on Harris, the first woman and the first Black and South Asian person to serve as U.S. vice president, have intensified since she became the likely Democratic nominee.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who unsuccessfully vied for the Republican nomination before endorsing Trump, told Fox News that Harris was "incredibly vapid" and predicted Democrats would "issue a blizzard of lies" to distance Harris from the Biden administration's policies on immigration and other issues.
"They have to whitewash Harris's background to make her palatable to the American people," he said.
Some Trump allies, including members of the "Black Americans for Trump" coalition, warn that disparaging Harris could harm Trump's outreach to Black voters, a crucial demographic in the November 5 election.
Harris's campaign did not immediately respond to DeSantis's comments.
Mitch Landrieu, a campaign co-chair, told MSNBC that Harris "had one of the best weeks that we've seen in politics in the last 50 years."
This is going to be a very close race," he said.
Trump's fundraising surged after his conviction in late May on felony charges related to a hush-money payment to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election. Additionally, an assassination attempt against him earlier this month is expected to further boost campaign contributions.
