Far ahead in polls, Trump also widens cash advantage, raising $24.5 million in third quarter

The 2024 GOP presidential campaign for former President Trump raised $24.5 million in the third quarter of this year, roughly double what any of his primary rivals reported over the same period.

The fundraising report released Sunday night by the Federal Election Commission comes at the same time Trump leads his closest primary rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by nearly 45.5 points, according to the RealClearPolitics.com polls average.

Trump also has more than three times as much available cash than DeSantis, who has essentially been Trump's closest challenger so far in the polls. Trump has $37.5 million, compared to $12.3 million for DeSantis.

Nikki Haley – another of Trump's closest rivals and a former U.N. ambassador – now reports $11.5 million on hand.

The reelection campaign for President Biden and the Democratic National Committee raised $71 million for the quarter, compared to $45 million for Trump and his leadership PAC Save America. 

Still, the Biden and Trump campaigns alone reported an almost equal amount of cash on hand for the third quarter – $24.8 million compared to $24.5 million.

The bulk of the spending on Trump's legal bills in the past three months has come from his leadership committee, which has reportedly spent tens of millions in the last quarter, not his campaign, according to Politico.