Biden, DNC redo deal for fundraising

ATLANTA — Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee have expanded their fundraising agreement to include 26 state parties as Democrats look to dent the Republicans’ money advantage and build a national campaign foundation heading into the November election.

The arrangement allows a new $620,600 maximum contribution that a single donor can give to party at one time. That’s up from the $360,600 cap under the first fundraising deal that the presumptive Democratic nominee signed with the party on April 24. The included state parties can get a maximum of $10,000 from each donor, while Biden is capped at $5,600. The rest goes to DNC campaign and operating accounts.

Biden’s campaign and the DNC planned to file papers for the deal on Saturday with the Federal Elections Commission. The GOP has similar arrangements in place that have given President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee a head start on building a national organization.

Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and a campaign adviser, said this past week that the GOP has more than $250 million cash on hand. Biden’s campaign said the Democrats have a combined $103 million. But Democrats said the joint fundraising operation, still in its infancy, positions Biden and the party to keep pace for the remainder of the campaign.

“We’ve seen the momentum build across the country, and we’ll continue to build out the organization that will defeat Trump” and “elect Vice President Biden and Democrats across the country,” said Greg Schultz, Biden’s former campaign manager who is now based at DNC.

The arrangement comes as Biden expands his influence with the national party and works with the DNC and state parties. The idea is to build “coordinated campaigns” in pivotal states where field organizers and volunteers will reach voters on behalf of all Democrats running in November.