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Kamala Harris seems to have a deep connection to her home — and its many tech-oriented donors.
After Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21, individual donors across the country contributed more than $59 million to Harris that month. Of that, a whopping $12.5 million came from donors in California, meaning that more than 20% of individual donors in July hailed from the Golden State, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission filings by Politico.
What's more, Google and its parent company Alphabet was the top employer among July donors. Employees at Google/Alphabet gave $262,000, even more than those who work at the sprawling University of California system (they came in at $226,000).
Apple and Meta were the second and third top tech employers of donors, with employees contributing $170,000 and $81,000 respectively. The outpouring of support comes from many who didn't donate to the Biden campaign, demonstrating a surge of excitement for Harris in Silicon Valley.
As some big names in the area, like Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen, have drifted toward Trump in recent years, other prominent venture capitalists have thrown their support — and money — behind Harris. Many of Harris' July donors from California had evidently soured on Biden, or at least weren't energized enough to donate to his campaign.
According to Politico's analysis, 10,000 California residents donated to Harris in 2019, when she was running to be the Democratic nominee, but did not contribute to the Biden-Harris ticket. Of those, about 460 people worked in the tech sector and raised a collective $400,000 for her primary run. On top of that, Harris raked in more than $290,000 from financial and venture capital figures who didn't donate to Biden.
Questions remain about Harris' precise stance on crypto and artificial intelligence, and Democrats are split on how she should approach questions of regulation. Some right wing figures in the tech world have already come out against economic proposals, all while Donald Trump and JD Vance work to paint themselves as the pro-business ticket. Vance, who is himself a former venture capitalist, is attending an event hosted by venture capitalist David Sacks, the New York Times reported.
Harris' cash is coming from beyond California's borders, too, as Gen Z donors contribute alongside billionaires. In a stunning display of financial might, more people donated to Harris during the first 10 days of her campaign than the entirety of Biden's 15-month reelection bid.
