Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million from contributors via their primary fundraising platform, ActBlue. This total was recorded over the past two days, according to a real-time tracker created by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project. Although this figure is not officially verified and is based on ActBlue’s own tracking, it highlights the fundraising prowess of the group ahead of any formal disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million to the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising total in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. For comparison, the second-highest day for fundraising was on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
The surge in donations on Sunday also allowed ActBlue to surpass $14 billion in total funds raised since it was established two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican equivalent that began operations in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue highlighted the mobilization of new supporters by stating, “We’ve seen so many folks saying they made their first ever donation in the last 24 hours!” expressing enthusiasm for the increase in small-dollar donations participating in the grassroots effort.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and his endorsement of Harris. Furthermore, Swing Left reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe for their fund supporting the eventual Democratic nominee.
Roger Altman, the founder of Evercore, expressed his optimism regarding Harris’s campaign, asserting it would be “very well financed” and confirmed his support for her. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also expressed their backing for Harris.
Historically, Biden’s fundraising momentum has increased significantly following key competitive moments, such as after a televised debate defeat to Trump in June, when he and his committees raised about $28 million within a day. In the wake of Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump and associated groups garnered $69 million in the subsequent days. The influx of donations during Trump’s conviction led to a temporary crash of his campaign website. An affiliated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month alone.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups accumulated $332.4 million in funds, whereas pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million. As of the end of June, Biden’s campaign had $281 million available, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.