Vice President Kamala Harris continued to outraise former President Donald Trump last month in Bartholomew County and the surrounding area as the presidential race heads into the final stretch, according to new campaign finance records.
Harris’ campaign reported raising $21,313 in Bartholomew County and the surrounding area in August, according to the Federal Election Commission. By comparison, Trump’s campaign reporting pulling in $13,456 in contributions across the local area over the same period.
The figures include contributions from residents of Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings counties.
The new filings come a month after Harris’ campaign reported raising more than twice as much money locally in her first 10 days at the top of the Democratic ticket in late July as Trump’s campaign did during the entire month.
Overall, Harris’ campaign reported raising $40,857 from 134 local residents from July 21, when President Joe Biden announced that he would exit the presidential race, to Aug. 31. Trump’s campaign reported raising $17,033 from 71 local residents over the same period.
The median local contribution to Harris’ campaign was $50 over that period, compared to $4.50 for Trump’s campaign.
Experts said the Harris’ local fundraising edge since late July likely reflects enthusiasm among Democrats but is still “pretty surprising,” especially given that Republican presidential candidates have carried Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings counties in every presidential election since 1964.
“Often times, when we think about donations, we think about it as another way of participating besides voting,” said Aaron Dusso, an associate professor of political science at IU Indianapolis. “And when it comes to voting or donating or volunteering for campaigns, so much of that is about enthusiasm. …This is, to me, solid evidence of the enthusiasm that the Harris taking over for Biden had among Democrats and left-leaning individuals across the entire country.”
At the same time, the demographics of the two campaigns’ local donors are different.
Local women have been by far more likely to contribute to Harris’ campaign, while male retirees have been much more likely to give money to Trump’s presidential bid, according to campaign finance records.
Women accounted for 52% of Harris’ local donors from Sept. 21 to Aug. 31, compared to 35% of local Trump.
A total of 52% of Trump’s local donors since Harris has been at the top of the Democratic ticket have been retirees, who have collectively made 177 contributions totaling $8,338, according to campaign finance records. Roughly 62% of retirees who donated to Trump’s campaign have been men.
The former president’s campaign received contributions from donors in 21 different professions, including 68 contributions from local residents who said they were tax preparers, 20 contributions from people who work in sales and 13 who were tool makers.
Harris’ campaign, for its part, has received contributions from local residents with 43 different professions, ranging from teachers, therapist and counselors to engineers, business executives and IT professionals.
However, just over half of local Harris donors said they were not employed. Retirees also contributed to Harris’ campaign but accounted for just 11% of the campaign’s local donors.
The demographics of local donors match finding from a recent national survey by the Pew Research Center.
In August, the Pew Research Center reported findings from a survey suggesting that age and gender are strong indicators of which party a voter supports.
Two-thirds of voters ages 18 to 29 are aligned with the Democratic Party, as well as 55% of voters in their 30s, the survey found.
However, the GOP has a large advantage with voters ages 60 and up. That includes a 10 percentage point advantage among voters in their 60s, a 5 percentage point advantage with voters in their 70s and a 19 percentage point advantage among voters ages 80 and up.
Neither party was found to have a significant edge with voters in their 40s and 50s.
However, Democrats hold advantages among women voters of all ages, ranging from 35 percentage points among women 18 to 29 to just 1 percentage point among women ages 50 and up according to the survey.
Currently, it is unclear if local contributions to Harris’ campaign will continue at the same pace during the final two months of the race. Additionally, it is impossible to say whether the surge in local contributions for Harris will translate into more Democratic votes in November.
The last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson or Jennings counties was Lyndon B. Johnson 60 years ago, who won all of five of those counties over Republican Barry Goldwater in 1964.
For instance, former President Barack Obama far outraised Republican nominee John McCain in the local area during the 2008 presidential race, yet McCain ended up carrying Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings counties. However, Obama ended up performing better locally in 2008 than most Democrats since 1964.
Dusso said there is a “small correlation” between campaign contributions and election results, though contributions generally are a better predictor of turnout.
“What it tracks really with is turnout,” Dusso said. “What (the campaign finance figures) suggests is that (Harris) is going to get some votes there, and also there are votes to be had. Democrats have given up nationally, certainly on Indiana. …But there are votes there. Obama winning (Indiana) in ’08 suggests it’s still the case. There are votes there to be had, but you’ve got to get them.”
While Johnson was the last Democratic presidential candidate to carry Bartholomew County and the surrounding area, other candidates have come close to winning one local county since then.
In 2008, Barack Obama lost Brown County by 206 votes. In 1996, Bill Clinton lost Jennings County by 238 votes and Jackson County by 733 votes.
In 1976, Jimmy Carter lost Jackson County by five votes, Jennings County by 75 votes and Brown County by 85 votes.
Democratic presidential candidates, however, have had a harder time in Bartholomew County. Since 1964, the only Democratic presidential candidates to receive more than 40% of the vote in the county were Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Obama in 2008.
Dusso, for his part, said he would not be surprised if local contributions to Harris decline in September and October as the initial enthusiasm over her candidacy wanes.
“I would probably expect that it will … dwindle and September will be slightly less than that $20,000 and then it will continue to go down as that initial burst of enthusiasm dies out,” Dusso said.
