Turn on the television for any length of time and the political ads are constant, especially in the race for president. In the days leading up to Election Day on Nov. 5, expect the onslaught to continue as the candidates and the surrogates spend a whopping amount of money.
According to financial disclosures filed this week, The Trump and Harris campaigns spent more than half-a-billion dollars in the first half of October 2024. The campaigns themselves doled $265 million, while their super PACs kicked in another $260 million.
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During that same time period in October, The New York Times found that the Harris campaign raised about $183 million. The Trump campaign pulled in $92 million. Most of the money is being spent on advertising as quickly as it is coming in.
Their surrogates are also spending lots of money on the race. The Democrats’ largest super PAC, Future Forward, spent $82 million on ad buys during the week of Oct. 21 alone. The Harris campaign is getting a financial boost from Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. He has contributed $38 million.
Donald Trump meanwhile is getting financial help from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. He spent $57 million on Republicans in the first half of October and contributed $119 million overall.
Musk is also contributing money to Senate Republicans in an effort to flip the Senate to the GOP in the election.
