Kamala Harris raised about $55 million in high-dollar events in California this weekend, according to an official familiar with the matter, a haul that pads her financial advantage over Republican rival Donald Trump.
The fundraiser Sunday at the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles took in about $28 million, and another one Saturday at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts raised about $27 million, according to the official, who requested anonymity to discuss a private matter.
The Los Angeles event featured performances by Alanis Morissette and Halle Bailey. Attending were celebrities such as Sterling K. Brown, Demi Lovato and Stevie Wonder, as well as moguls such as Jeffrey Katzenberg, who is co-chair of the Harris campaign.
After guests dined on appetizers such as samosas and mini lobster rolls, Harris urged them to activate their networks to help her win the November election.
“This race is as close as it could be,” she told them. “We are the underdogs.”
Both Harris and Trump are tapping California’s prodigious donor base with the election now just weeks away. The former president attended a Silicon Valley fundraiser earlier in September.
Harris began September with $404 million in the bank, compared to $295 million for Trump, according to the latest disclosures to the Federal Election Commission. The Harris campaign spent an average of $7.5 million a day in August, compared with a $2.6 million daily average for Trump.
Tickets for the California fundraisers topped out at $926,600. Those who donated at least $100,000 got a chance to get a photo taken with the vice president, while those at the $250,000 level and above were able to attend a luncheon.
Harris raised $27 million in a Sept. 22 fundraiser at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.
After the Los Angeles fundraiser, Harris headed to Las Vegas, where about 7,500 enthusiastic people waved signs in English and Spanish.
Trump, for his part, rallied his supporters Sunday at an event in Erie, Pennsylvania, a battleground state integral to a win in November.
