DALLAS — Vice President Kamala Harris made her first public appearance on Monday since President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 race for the White House.
It was her first full day of campaigning, and already, fundraising dollars are flowing in. In just hours, Harris' supporters raised millions on a Sunday night Zoom call.
A group called "WIN WITH BLACK WOMEN" sent thousands of email invites to people across the country to join the Zoom.
Fort Worth Mayor Pro-Tempore Gyna Bivens, the city's highest-elected Black woman, was one of 44,000 people on the Zoom call.
"I got an e-mail from a couple of friends," Gyna Bivens said, "It was more than Black women. One of the CNN Hispanic anchors crashed the call and told the organizers, you know, we get discriminated against as well."
Bivens and other Harris supporters together donated more than $1 million Sunday night. Since then, the Harris campaign has reportedly raised a record $81 million in just 24 hours, according to ABC News.
Talk show host and Republican National Convention committee member Debbie Georgatos is an expert in campaign fundraising. WFAA asked Georgatos to weigh in on the success of fundraising by the Trump Campaign.
Georgatos has been instrumental in helping Republican candidates connect with donors. Former President Donald Trump has rallied his base to the tune of over $200 million this campaign season.
"We will continue to see a great boom in fundraising for President Trump," said Debbie Georgatos, "I want my voice heard. I don't like what's happening. So I'm going to make this donation because I want to show I'm doing something to not only help in some way the Trump campaign."
Arlington Mayor-Pro-Tempore Dr. Barbara Odom-Wesley learned fundraising from her father, Arlington's first Black mayor. She says when it comes to convincing voters to give politicians must connect with voters to earn their trust and their money for fundraising.
"You have to be able to convince people that you are the better candidate and worthy of their support and their contributions," Barbara Odom-Wesley said.
In Tarrant County, Commissioner Alisa Simmons, who represents voters in parts of southeast Tarrant County, spent three hours on Sunday's Zoom call and described it as more than just fundraising.
Commissioner Alisa Simmons said, "It tells you instructions on how to do the work locally in your community, your footprint so that you can help on a national level. I didn't expect to donate on Sunday night but I am glad I did."
Vice-President Kamala Harris summed up the road ahead on X today by writing, "One day down for the campaign. 105 to go."