One week after a dominant performance at the first debate of the 2020 election, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) announced Friday that she raised nearly $12 million during the second quarter of the Democratic primary.
Overall for the quarter, the campaign received donations from more than 279,000 individuals, who donated an average of $39, Harris’ team said.
Harris’ team made a significant push in the final days of the period, raising $2 million in the 24 hours after the California senator confronted former Vice President Joe Biden onstage in Miami over his opposition to busing and recent statements celebrating his past working relationships with two well-known segregationists.
“I do not believe you are a racist,” Harris told Biden onstage. “But it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.”
Media members mobbed Harris after the first Democratic debate, and early polls indicated that a significantly larger percentage of Democratic voters viewed Harris as someone who could win in a general election than did in May.
The night represented a significant turnaround from just one month prior, when Harris decided to “reset her campaign” and place additional emphasis on her prosecutorial past, according to The New York Times.
Harris’ initial campaign rollout had received near-unanimous praise from political operatives in January, but the California senator failed to translate the successful launch into momentum in national polls or fundraising.
Harris was outraised in the second quarter by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Biden and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who raised $18 million, $21.5 million and $24.8 million, respectively.
But in just the last week, something might have started to change.
“We have momentum right now,” the Harris campaign told supporters last week.