WASHINGTON • Mr Joe Biden's campaign entered this month with a war chest that was almost three times larger than United States President Donald Trump's, solidifying the Democratic nominee's advantage in the final weeks of the campaign.
Latest filings with the Federal Election Commission show Mr Biden's campaign had US$177.3 million (S$240 million) in the bank at the end of last month.
By contrast, Mr Trump burned through almost half his cash in September, ending the month with US$63.1 million, even though he cut expenses by pulling back on planned advertising buys starting in late August.
After enjoying a financial edge for much of the race, Mr Trump is being forced to play catch-up in fund-raising at the same time he remains consistently behind Mr Biden in national surveys.
Mr Trump is now down 8.6 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics polling average and behind, but by narrower margins, in key battleground states just two weeks before the Nov 3 election.
The filings show Mr Biden's campaign raised US$281.6 million last month while spending US$285 million, more than twice as much as Mr Trump.
Mr Trump's campaign raised US$83.1 million in September while spending US$139.3 million, the filings show.
Mr Trump's broader re-election effort, which includes the Republican National Committee and two joint fund-raising committees, raised US$247.8 million last month.
Mr Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) raised US$383 million in the month and said they have US$432 million in the bank, against US$251.6 million for Mr Trump's election committee.
Mr Biden and the DNC raised US$748 million in August and September alone, about US$290 million more than Mr Trump over the same period.
The Democratic nominee's campaign said last Friday that it is on track to raise another US$234 million before Nov 3.
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$240m
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Amount of money that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's campaign had at the end of last month. President Donald Trump's campaign ended September with US$63.1 million.
If the estimate holds true, Mr Biden and the DNC would have raised more than US$982 million in the final three months before the election, surpassing the US$942 million that former US president Barack Obama took in for his 2008 campaign.
It is a huge turnaround for Mr Biden and the DNC. In April, they had just US$98 million in the bank, against US$255 million for Mr Trump's re-election bid.
The extra money has allowed Mr Biden to dominate the airwaves in the final weeks of the race.
BLOOMBERG
