Clinton Raises $154 Million in September

(Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton raised $154 million for her campaign and the Democratic Party last month, the biggest monthly fundraising haul yet in her bid for the White House.

In September, Clinton raised about $84 million for her campaign committee, up from $62 million in August. About $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 $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 $56.

“With Donald Trump promising to dump an additional $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 percent to 44 percent 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, the days following the debate.

Trump, who hasn’t announced how much he raised in September, pulled in about $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 about $767 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 $60 million, according to the campaign.

In 2012, President Barack Obama, running for re-election, and Republican nominee Mitt Romney each raised more than $1 billion, making it the most expensive presidential race on record, final figures showed.

--With assistance from Bill Allison To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Dexheimer in Washington at edexheimer@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joshua Gallu at jgallu@bloomberg.net, Ros Krasny, Drew Armstrong