It takes money to win an election in the United States, and so far presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign is easily winning that battle.
According to documents filed Monday with the Federal Elections Commission, Clinton raised more than $26 million in May and began this month with $42.5 million in the bank.
By contrast, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s campaign had just $1.3 million. He raised $5.6 million in May, began the month with $2.4 million and spent $6.7 million.
Both Trump and Clinton will get help from their parties and from outside groups known as super PACs that will spend money on television advertisements backing the candidates. But it is important for each of them to have a lot of their own money to spend on ads of their own and campaigning efforts across the country’s 50 states.
President Barack Obama’s campaign committee spent over $775 million of its own money to get him re-elected. His challenger, Republican Mitt Romney, spent $460 million. The parties and super PACS added several hundred million more dollars to the race in order to run a modern day elections.
