watch
now
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris
is
already
seeing
a
wave
of
big
money
donor
support
following
President
Joe
Biden
dropping
out
of
the
race,
with
the
help
of
bundlers
who
have
assisted
her
in
past
races,
according
to
people
familiar
with
the
matter.
Moments
after
Biden
announced
he
would
drop
out
of
the
race
for
president
and
endorsed
Harris,
major
donors
who
helped
raise
money
during
her
failed
2020
Democratic
primary
fight
and
successful
2016
Senate
campaign
immediately
mobilized
and
began
outreach
to
wealthy
contributors,
according
to
these
people,
who
spoke
to
CNBC
did
so
on
the
condition
of
anonymity
in
order
to
speak
freely.
“I’ve
been
in
touch
with
many
of
her
supporters
from
New
York
to
California
and
we
are
getting
organized
to
start
up
the
fundraising
machine,”
said
Jon
Henes,
the
vice
president’s
national
finance
chair
during
her
2020
run
for
president.
“I
had
more
than
200
texts,
calls,
and
emails
today
of
people
wanting
to
host
events
and
make
donations.”
Among
the
top
party
fundraisers
now
planning
to
help
Harris
is
longtime
Wall
Street
executive
Marc
Lasry,
according
to
a
person
with
direct
knowledge
of
the
matter.
Lasry
helped
raise
money
for
the
vice
president
when
she
ran
against
Biden
in
the
2020
Democratic
primary.
He
later
raised
campaign
cash
for
Biden
when
he
beat
Trump
during
that
election
cycle
But
it
wasn’t
just
the
big
donors
who
responded
to
Biden’s
announcement:
The
progressive
donation
platform ActBlue initially
said
it
raised
$27.5
million
from
small-dollar
donors
in
the
five
hours
after
Biden
endorsed
Harris.
Later,
the
company
announced
it
raised
over
$45
million.
Shortly
after
the
endorsement,
the
Biden
for
President
campaign
filed
Federal
Election
Commission
paperwork
to
change
its
name
to
“Harris
for
President.”
watch
now
But
the
renewed
energy
among
some
of
the
party’s
top
financiers
was
particularly
significant
because
several
of
them
had
announced
they
would
hold
back
funds
from
a
Biden-led
ticket,
after
his
disastrous
debate
performance
on
June
27
against
former
President
Donald
Trump.
Venture
capitalist
Reid
Hoffman
plans
to
donate
even
more
in
support
of
Harris’
candidacy
than
he
did
when
he
backed
Biden
over
Trump
throughout
the
2024
presidential
election
cycle,
according
to
a
person
familiar
with
the
matter.
Hoffman
has
donated
at
least
$10
million
to
supportive
Biden
political
action
committees
so
far
this
election,
according
to
Federal
Election
Commission
records.
Hoffman
endorsed
Harris
in
a
social
media
post.
Hoffman’s
spokeswoman
declined
to
comment.
Before
Biden
dropped
out,
Harris’
allies
were
planning
a
fundraiser
in
the
ritzy
New
York
Hamptons
region
for
early
August,
which
was
set
to
feature
Second
Gentleman
Doug
Emhoff,
some
of
the
people
explained.
Some
donors
were
deleting
the
emailed
invite
out
of
frustration
with
Biden,
these
people
explained.
Now,
the
expectation
is
that
a
Hamptons
event
next
month
will
likely
sell
out
with
many
donors
getting
off
the
sidelines
to
help
Harris,
according
to
a
person
familiar
with
the
event.
Alexander
Soros,
the
son
of
Democratic
megadonor
George
Soros,
said
in
a
social
media
post
on
Sunday
after
Biden
dropped
out
that
“it’s
time
for
us
all
to
unite
around
Kamala
Harris
and
beat
Donald
Trump.”
But
the
major
donor
support
for
Harris
isn’t
universal
across
the
Democratic
Party,
suggesting
she
has
some
work
to
do
in
order
to
get
them
on
her
side.
Stewart
Bainum
Jr.,
the
chairman
of
Choice
Hotels
and
a
major
Biden
donor,
told
CNBC
he
is
still
sitting
on
the
sidelines
and
won’t
jump
in
to
help
Harris
because
he
feels
there
should
be
a
battle
at
the
upcoming
convention
with
other
potential
nominees
having
the
chance
to
lead
the
party.
The
Democratic
National
Convention
is
set
to
take
place
in
Chicago
in
August.
Another
veteran
Biden
fundraiser
said
there
should
be
a
“mini
primary”
over
the
coming
weeks
heading
into
the
convention
for
Harris
and
anyone
else
who
wants
to
compete
for
the
nomination.
But
for
Harris,
having
some
donors
immediately
jump
on
board
is
a
sign
that
she
could
bolster
the
over
$95
million
campaign
war
chest
she’ll
control
after
Biden
departed
from
the
race.
Harris
can
likely
get
immediate
access
to
the
Biden
campaign’s
roughly
$96
million
donation
pot,
according
to
Anna
Massoglia,
an
investigations
manager
at
the
campaign
finance
research
center,
OpenSecrets.
“The
general
consensus
among
most
people
that
I’ve
spoken
with
is
that
she
can
use
the
funding,”
Massoglia
told
CNBC
in
an
interview.
Massoglia
noted
that
some
conservative
election
lawyers
believe
Harris
needs
to
officially
become
the
Democratic
nominee
before
getting
full
access
to
the
campaign
war
chest,
though
she
added
that
they
represent
“a
very
small
sliver”
of
lawyers’
opinions.
Still,
until
election
lawyers
resolve
the
debate
over
whether
Harris
needs
to
be
the
official
nominee,
her
campaign
funding
access
is
still
an
open
question.
The
same
goes
for
the
donations
of
the
Democratic
National
Committee
and
joint
fundraising
committees,
Massoglia
said.
The
scenarios
get
more
tangled,
however,
if
Harris
does
not
secure
the
Democratic
nomination.
In
that
case,
the
campaign
could
convert
its
funds
into
a
PAC
or
another
type
of
political
committee
that
would
spend
in
support
of
the
new
nominee.
That
option
comes
with
several
disadvantages,
Massoglia
said:
PACs
are
subject
to
more
expensive
advertising
rates
and
are
not
allowed
to
coordinate
with
the
candidate.
An
alternative
would
be
to
refund
donors
and
ask
them
to
contribute
to
another
committee.
That
would
come
with
the
added
risk
of
donors
potentially
deciding
not
to
donate
to
the
new
campaign,
Massoglia
said.
