Clinton and the Democratic Party Just Had Their Best Fundraising Month Yet by Far

Hillary Clinton’s nonstop schedule of high-dollar fundraisers in August paid off, helping raise $143 million for her campaign and the Democratic Party – her biggest monthly haul yet.

Campaign officials announced Thursday that donors contributed about $62 million to her campaign committee and another $81 million to the Democratic National Committee and state parties in August. That’s a huge growth from the $90 million that Clinton and the party jointly raised in July. However, her campaign fundraising stayed flat – in both months, she raised about $62 million – indicating that the increase was driven by large contributions to the party.

Clinton is beginning September with $68 million in her campaign coffers. The hefty war chest means the Democratic White House hopeful has the resources to continue an expensive ad blitz against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, while also investing in an expansive field operation.

Since launching her second presidential bid, the former secretary of state has raised $413 million in all for her campaign. Trump has not yet released his fundraising totals for August, but as of the end of July, he was lagging far behind, with nearly $126 million for his campaign committee. However, his fundraising in July almost matched hers, largely because of a surge of small-dollar contributions – suggesting Trump could also post a large number for August, as well.

The Democratic candidate’s cash bonanza last month was fueled in part by a spree of pricey fundraisers. Together, she and her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine (Virginia), headlined more than 70 events from Nantucket, Mass., to Beverly Hills, Calif.

One single event last week raised an estimated $4 million: a dinner for 20 people who paid at least $200,000 each to attend the gathering at the Woodside home of Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs, the co-founder and former chief executive of Apple. The price of admission was even higher – at least $250,000 per donor – for a dinner Tuesday in Sagaponack, New York, hosted by Susie and Michael Gelman, a Washington-area couple long active with charities including the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.