Harris set to raise $1.4M at Berkshires fundraiser

BOSTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will rake in $1.4 million for her political operation when she headlines a fundraiser in Massachusetts on Saturday, as Democrats continue to surge financial support to their likely new nominee.

The star-studded event — featuring a joint musical performance from James Taylor, Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax and counting former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick among its hosts — was initially aiming to raise $400,000, according to a person familiar with details of the event and granted anonymity to speak freely.

The haul comes exactly a week after Harris — then still the No. 2 on the ticket, but with rumors swirling about President Joe Biden dropping out of the race — headlined a fundraiser on Cape Cod that raised $2 million , double organizers’ initial goal.

Several high-profile Massachusetts Democrats will join the Berkshires event, which is expected to draw about 800 people to the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey are slated to speak, as is Rep. Richard Neal , the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, who represents the area. Taylor will introduce Harris. Other featured guests include historian Heather Cox Richardson.

Democrats have been on a fundraising tear since Biden dropped out of the race. Harris raised $81 million in the first 24 hours alone since Biden ended his bid and endorsed hers. Earlier this week, Future Forward, the flagship super PAC blessed by Biden, said it received $150 million in new commitments from major Democratic donors in the 24 hours since he announced he was stepping aside.

The PAC is spending heavily, too. It has placed nearly $33 million in broadcast and cable ads to run through mid-August in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.

Harris will return to Massachusetts under markedly different circumstances than when she was in Provincetown just seven days ago, pitching a Biden-led ticket to deep-pocketed donors anxious about the party’s November prospects.

Now she is all but assured to be the Democratic nominee, and her team is actively vetting potential running mates. She has already locked up the support of major Democrats in the state — including Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, with the latter due to meet the vice president on the tarmac ahead of the fundraiser.