Harris's campaign fund hits $377m as she closes gap on Trump in key states

Kamala Harris's campaign said yesterday it raised $310m (£242m) in July, the latest illustration of a presidential race that polls show has been transformed from an apparent walkover by Donald Trump to a neckand-neck race in battleground states.

- Martin Pengelly

Harris doubled Trump's July fundraising haul of $138.7m, which in any normal year would be an impressive result. But Harris's strong start since Joe Biden stepped aside on 21 July and she became the de facto Democratic nominee has given her campaign $377m cash on hand compared with Trump's $327m.

"Kamala Harris's rising momentum seems to be transforming into a cultural wave we haven't seen since Barack Obama's candidacy in 2008," said Tara Setmayer, a Republican anti-Trump activist and the founder of the Seneca Project, a group working to protect women's rights.

Last night Harris officially received the necessary amount of votes from delegates to become the Democratic US presidential nominee.

Ahead of the Democratic national convention in Chicago starting on 19 August the vice-president has changed the race in a remarkably short time. It is still less than two weeks since Biden, 81, facing criticisms he was too old for a second term and calls to quit from prominent donors including the actor George Clooney, said he would stand aside.