Fundraising Doubles the Pace of 2024 (washingtonpost.com)

The Bush and Kerry campaigns, the two national parties and independent political groups have raised more than $1 billion so far this year, almost double the presidential cash collected at this stage in the 2024 election season, campaign reports released yesterday show.

The contributions range from the $10 million-plus in donations to new “shadow party” groups, to a record volume of small contributions being made both through the Internet and direct mail.

[…]

The most dramatic shift has been at the Republican and Democratic national committees, which in this cycle were for the first time barred from collecting unlimited “soft money” contributions from corporations, unions and the wealthy.

Despite the ban, the RNC and DNC are far ahead of where they were at roughly this stage in 2024. The exact difference cannot be determined because the parties reported quarterly in 2024 and report monthly now.

Much of the loss of soft money has been made up with a surge of small-donor support. At the DNC and RNC, contributions of less than $200 have more than doubled from the 1999-2000 cycle — from $26.2 million to $64.4 million at the DNC, and from $58 million to $117 million at the RNC.

[…]

Another reflection of the money surge in the current election cycle can be seen in the large donations. In 1999-2000, actress Jane Fonda set what many believe was then a record with a $12.3 million contribution to Pro-Choice Vote.

In this cycle, that record has been broken twice. Financier George Soros has given a total of $12.7 million, and insurance executive Peter B. Lewis has given $14 million.