Former Penn Presidential Professor of Practice and Vice President Joe Biden has outpaced 1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump in donors and financial contributions by ZIP code campaign funding across the Philadelphia region.
Since first surpassing Trump’s campaign funding in May, Biden has now surpassed the current president in Philadelphia and surrounding Pennsylvania and New Jersey suburbs, according to a New York Times analysis of $1.8 billion donated by 7.6 million people since April.
Nationwide, Trump raised $734 million while Biden raised $1.07 billion, making him the first presidential candidate to raise over $1 billion in a single election cycle.
The analysis included over 25 million contributions made from about 32,000 ZIP codes, with data coming from the Federal Election Commission, both presidential campaigns, the Republican National Committee, and the Democratic National Committee.
Biden's lead in financial contributions across the city represents a nationwide trend in his donor base from urban and suburban areas, according to Philly Voice.
Biden outraised Trump by about $389 million in ZIP codes above the level of median household income of $68,000, but Trump outpaced Biden in ZIP codes below the national average, according to the analysis. In ZIP codes where almost two-thirds of people had a college degree, Biden also outpaced Trump nationwide.
The gap between financial contributions given to the two presidential candidates is evident at Penn as well, with faculty members donating about 100 times more to the Democratic nominee's campaign than that of the Republican incumbent.
The discrepancy also reflects recent polls, including one NBC News/Marist poll showing Biden leading Trump by 28 points among likely voters in Philadelphia suburbs. Final polls in Pennsylvania, a significant battleground state with 20 electoral college votes, continue to show Biden ahead of Trump in the last few days leading to the election.
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