A day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats raised $100 million from donors through their main fundraising platform, ActBlue. This significant fundraising effort was tracked by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, who maintained a live tracker. Although not official, the tally provides insight into ActBlue’s fundraising success ahead of required disclosures.
On Sunday alone, Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch garnered $66.9 million, marking the biggest fundraising day for the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The previous record was held on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Thanks to the surge in donations, ActBlue has now raised a total of $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. Its Republican counterpart, WinRed, has raised about $4.3 billion since it began in late 2019, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed excitement over the influx of small-dollar donors joining the grassroots movement. In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, they noted the high number of first-time donors in the past 24 hours.
In addition to ActBlue’s success, Future Forward, a Biden-aligned super PAC, received $150 million in new commitments from major donors following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, raised over $160,000 within 24 hours.
Prominent figures like Evercore founder Roger Altman and Democratic mega-donors George and Alex Soros have pledged their support for Harris, predicting a well-financed campaign for her.
Previously, Biden’s best fundraising days came after major political events, such as his debate loss to Trump on June 27, which led to a $28 million raise, and the days following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in May, when Biden raised $19.2 million.
Between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.