(BLOOMBERG) - Hillary Clinton raised US$154 million (S$210 million) for her campaign and the Democratic Party last month, her biggest monthly fundraising haul yet in her bid for the White House, pushing her total for the election cycle toward US$1 billion.
In September, Clinton raised about US$84 million for her campaign committee, up from US$62 million in August. About US$70 million was raised by the Hillary Victory Fund, which divides money among the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and various state parties, according to a statement Saturday from her campaign.
The committees ended September with a combined US$150 million of cash on hand for the final push to Election Day on Nov 8. More than 900,000 people donated to "Hillary for America" in September, the campaign said. The average donation in September was about US$56.
"With Donald Trump promising to dump an additional US$50 million of his own money into the campaign and right-wing billionaires pledging millions more, we must continue to step up in order to have the resources we need to mobilize millions of voters across the country," campaign manager Robby Mook said in the statement.
While Clinton, 68, began September with a health issue, revealing she had been diagnosed with pneumonia, she ended the month with a strong performance in the first debate against Trump, the Republican nominee. The two square off again on Oct 9.
Battleground States
The Democratic nominee gained ground in critical battleground states including Nevada and Florida, according to Suffolk University polls. In a national Fox News survey released late Friday, she leads Trump 49 per cent to 44 per cent in a two-way match-up, and by three points - within the margin of error - when third-party candidates were included. The Fox News poll was conducted Sept 27-29, a span that included the debate and the two days following.
Trump, who hasn't announced how much he raised in September, pulled in about US$90 million for his campaign and the Republican Party in August.
Clinton, who has spent heavily on advertising and get-out-the-vote operations, has raised more than US$989 million through her campaign and joint fundraising committee since the election cycle began in early 2015.
That's well ahead of Trump, who largely financed his primary campaign out of his own pocket. As of August, Trumps' total investment was almost US$60 million, according to the campaign.
In 2012, President Barack Obama, running for re-election, and Republican nominee Mitt Romney each raised more than US$1 billion, making it the most expensive presidential race on record.
Clinton's results were well above the combined US$110 million that Obama brought in for his campaign and joint fundraising committee in September 2012.
