Hillary Clinton, in an effort to entirely turn her focus to the general election, will begin raising money for the general election and Democratic National Convention on Wednesday by filing paperwork on a new joint fundraising agreement with the Democratic Party, according to a spokesman.
The new deal will open up Clinton’s general election account, which allows individuals who have already given to Clinton’s primary campaign to donate another $2,700 to the campaign, according to Josh Schwerin, a Clinton spokesman. Clinton’s campaign will begin soliciting donations for the account Wednesday.
The Hillary Action Fund will be a new joint fundraising effort between the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee and its headquarters fund, Schwerin added.
The news came just an hour before Clinton received the endorsement of Democratic megadonor and environmental activist Tom Steyer, who spent $70 million backing candidates in 2014.
The deal also allows Clinton’s donors, even those who have already maxed out to other accounts, to funnel more money to the Democratic Party. According to Federal Election Commission rules, donors can now give $100,200 to the convention account and $100,200 to the DNC’s headquarters account, two accounts the Clinton campaign had not raised money for before. Campaign aides see this as an urgent need, too, given that the convention in Philadelphia is only seven weeks away.
“Historically, both the Democratic and Republican conventions received public funding. Because that has ended, both parties’ presumptive nominees are helping raise money for their conventions,” Schwerin said. “The Hillary Action Fund is being formed so Hillary Clinton can help raise money for the Democratic National Convention as well as for the DNC and its headquarters fund.”
Clinton will gather with some of her top donors on Friday night in Washington, a Democrat with knowledge of the presumptive Democratic nominee’s plans told CNN on Thursday.
The event, which will be at Clinton’s D.C. home, is for donors who have raised $500,000 or more for the Clinton campaign, the Democrat said. Clinton will provide the donors with both face time and a preview of what to expect in the general election.
Both major political parties’ convention committees were eligible for public funding in 2012 and the FEC made payments of nearly $18 million to the respective nominating conventions. President Barack Obama, however, signed legislation in 2014 that ended public funding of conventions.
Clinton, despite dealing with a challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, has been focused on the convention for weeks.
On Tuesday night, Clinton urged people, “whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or Independent,” to join the party when they “meet in Philadelphia which gave birth to our nation back in that hot summer of 1776.”
But after she won the Pennsylvania primary on April 26, Clinton said, “Wow, with your help, we’re going to come back to Philadelphia for the Democratic National Convention with the most votes and the most pledged delegates and we will unify our party to win this election and build an America where we can all rise together.”
After winning both California and New Jersey on Tuesday, and having enough delegates to clinch the nomination, Clinton has moved on from her fight against Sanders and is now gearing up for a race against Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump.
Clinton, showcasing that change of focus, will visit battleground states Ohio and Pennsylvania next week.
