Biden and DNC raise record $365 million in August


Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing
September 3, 2020: Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee raised $365 million in August. The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the moderators for the 2020 presidential and vice presidential debates.


Campaign Ad Comparison
DPNB campaign ad comparison feature, 2020 ("Adrianna" – Joe Biden)

DPNB campaign ad comparison feature, 2020 ("Lawless" – Donald Trump)

Notable Quote of the Day

“President Donald Trump will hold a campaign rally in the key swing state of Pennsylvania on Thursday — but the event won’t be held in the vote-rich Philadelphia suburbs that past Republican nominees like Mitt Romney have taken pains to court.

Instead, he’ll be in the southwest Pennsylvania town of Latrobe, population roughly 8,000.

Four years ago, Trump got more than 116,000 votes from Westmoreland County, where Latrobe is located, compared to Romney’s 103,000 votes in 2012 — a significant difference in a state he won by less than 1 percentage point, or 44,000 votes.

And so the president is focusing his re-election efforts in Pennsylvania on smaller towns and rural areas, flipping the playbook that has traditionally called for statewide candidates from either party to focus resources on the state’s largest city and its surrounding counties.”

– Shannon Pettypiece and Lauren Egan, NBC News

Election Updates

  • The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the moderators for the 2020 presidential and vice presidential debates. Fox News’ Chris Wallace, C-SPAN’s Steve Scully, and NBC News’ Kristen Welker will each moderate one of the presidential debates. USA Today’s Susan Page will moderate the vice presidential debate. Each debate will be 90 minutes long without commercials. The first debate takes place in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 29.

  • Facebook will ban political ads in the week before the November 3 general election. “I generally believe the best antidote to bad speech is more speech, but in the final days of an election there may not be enough time to contest new claims,” Mark Zuckerberg said.

  • Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee raised $365 million in August, bypassing Barack Obama’s record $193 million monthly total in September 2008.

  • Biden is holding a community meeting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to discuss recent protests in the city. He will also meet with the family of Jacob Blake.

  • Republicans and Independents for Biden, a group of nearly 100 Republican officials and leaders, endorsed Biden on Thursday. Former Govs. Christine Todd Whitman (N.J.), Bill Weld (Mass.), and Rick Snyder (Mich.) are among the group.

  • Donald Trump began airing two ads in Wisconsin and Minnesota focused on rioting in Minneapolis and Kenosha. A campaign press release said, “The ads are part of a multi-state buy aimed at early-voting states. Voters in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina will see other messaging defining Biden as a tool of the radical left.”

  • Trump will hold a campaign rally in southwestern Pennsylvania on Thursday.

  • Howie Hawkins said he planned to challenge the Wisconsin Election Commission’s decision to reject his petition for ballot access.

Flashback: September 3, 2016

Donald Trump discussed his agenda for Black voters during a church service at Great Faith Ministries in Detroit.

Click here to learn more.