US Female Voters United Around Harris... 60% of Donations from Women Supporters

by Kwon Haeyoung

Published 21 Aug.2024 00:33(KST)

Updated 21 Aug.2024 07:07(KST)

Election Camp "60% of July Donations Supported by Women"

Women supporters are pouring donations to Vice President Kamala Harris, who is challenging to become the first Black female president of the United States.

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

On the 20th (local time), the Harris campaign announced that more than 60% of the $310 million raised in July in Vice President Harris's name came from female donors.

According to Melissa Prober, co-chair of 'Women for Harris,' which is conducting fundraising activities for Vice President Harris, more than $600,000 has been raised since President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race on the 21st of last month. This amount is 7.5 times the donations raised for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential candidate in 2016. Since starting the campaign as 'Women for Biden' early last year, they have raised $2.1 million, achieving their initial goal, and with Vice President Harris replacing the Democratic presidential candidate, they doubled their fundraising target.

Chair Prober said, "We are overwhelming (the goal)," adding, "Raising funds for Biden was a challenge, but now there is so much money coming in that it is difficult."

Vice President Harris is receiving strong support from female voters. According to a poll released on the 4th by CBS and polling firm YouGov, support for Vice President Harris was 45% among men and 54% among women. In the case of former President Trump, support was 54% among men and 45% among women. In this situation, Vice President Harris is actively making related issues a key point to expand her support base among female voters, including advocating for 'reproductive rights,' which refers to women's decision-making rights related to childbirth, including abortion.

Women already account for half of all donors supporting the Democratic Party. The proportion of female donors was 42.2% during the 2008 presidential election, rising to 52.3% in the 2016 election when former Secretary Clinton ran. Although this ratio dropped to 48.3% in the 2020 election, it is expected to rise again this year with Vice President Harris's candidacy.

Prominent female figures are also leading support for Vice President Harris. Melinda French Gates, ex-wife of Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (MS); Lauren Powell Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, who passed away in 2011; Sheryl Sandberg, former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Meta; and pop star Beyonc? are among those supporting Vice President Harris.

Bloomberg News reported, "The Democratic Party has been building a closer network of supporters by placing more female officials in state governments," adding, "An unprecedented amount of funds is pouring in from female donors to Harris."