Trump’s campaign overtook the Democrats in the first half of the year, buoyed by questions over the mental acuity of President Joe Biden. Major Democrats withheld further donations to the Democrats until Biden dropped out. Upon the transition to Harris, donors made up for the lost months of funding with a deluge of cash, out-fundraising Trump by significant margins.

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This pattern has continued in the final month before the election, with Harris raising $97 million in the first half of October, compared to Trump’s $16 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings obtained by Politico.

However, Trump’s funding position has improved significantly, considering his wider operation, including joint fundraising committees. Altogether, his campaign and network raised $97 million, though Harris raised $176 million.

Harris’s outspending matched her advantage, spending $166 million compared to $99 million for Trump.

Elon Musk’s America PAC, which handles much of the Trump campaign’s groundwork, raised another $44 million for Trump. The pro-Harris FF PAC raised $65 million.

Harris raised over $1 billion in just 2 1/2 months, a fundraising pace that shattered the records of all other U.S. presidential candidates.

Democrats have expressed bafflement that the money influx hasn’t given results.

“There’s no reason anyone should raise a billion dollars and be running against a guy like that and be neck-and-neck,” a Democrat close to the Harris campaign who is concerned that Harris isn’t breaking through, especially with men, told the Washington Examiner earlier this month.

“Having more money isn’t everything. Everyone’s on edge,” a Democratic aide said.

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Trump has steadily chipped away at the lead Harris gained in the late summer, even overtaking her in polling in all major swing states. This culminated in the final New York Times poll having the two tied nationally, a worrying sign for Harris, who held a three-point edge in the previous poll in early October. The RealClearPolitics average has the two tied nationally at 48.5%.

For comparison, the average at around this point in the razor-thin 2020 election had Biden up by 7.2%, and in 2016, Hillary Clinton up by 3.2% in a race she ultimately lost.