Democrat Biden and his allies had $466 mln at end of August: official

[September 21, 2020]  By Jason Lange and Grant Smith

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden ended August with a larger pile of cash than President Donald Trump's re-election effort, giving the former vice president a significant financial advantage in the final stretch of the campaign.

Biden and his party allies increased their cash holdings to $466 million at the end of August, a campaign official said on Sunday. That is well above the $325 million that Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said the campaign would report together with the Republican Party.

Biden leads Trump in most national and battleground state polling ahead of the Nov. 3 election.

While the Trump campaign started the year with a considerable cash advantage, Biden has closed the gap as Democratic donors consolidated behind him and the Trump campaign has burned through its money more quickly.

The cash stockpile of Biden and party allies compares with $294 million that the campaign had announced in early August, which was less than Trump's re-election effort had at the time.

In recent weeks, Trump's campaign has run Facebook ads pointing to Biden's fundraising strength and asking people to chip in for the president's campaign.

Democratic U.S. presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden removes his face mask before delivering remarks regarding the Supreme Court at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., September 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mark Makela

On Sunday, the Trump campaign said in a federal disclosure it raised $61.8 million in August and spent $61.2 million, leaving it with $121.1 million in cash. The report did not include funds raised or spent by the Republican Party.

In a separate disclosure, Biden's campaign said it raised $212.2 million in August and spent $130.4 million, leaving it with $180.6 million in the bank, also not considering money raised by party allies.

(Reporting by Jason Lange in Washington, Grant Smith in New York and Trevor Hunnicutt in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Peter Cooney)

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