Democrats have seen a significant influx of donations following President Joe Biden’s recent announcement that he would not be running for re-election. In just two days, the party raised $100 million through ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform, according to a tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While this figure is unofficial and derived from ActBlue’s own tracking since its inception in 2004, it offers insight into the party’s financial momentum right before formal disclosures are due.
On Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’s newly launched presidential campaign, marking the largest fundraising day for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous record was set on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
This surge in donations has propelled ActBlue to surpass $14 billion in total cash raised over its 20-year history. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that began in late 2019, has generated approximately $4.3 billion since its launch.
ActBlue reported a wave of first-time donors contributing in the past 24 hours, expressing enthusiasm about the rise in grassroots support. Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in commitments from major donors shortly after Biden’s announcement, while Swing Left indicated raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, affirmed that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed” and expressed his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also thrown their weight behind her campaign.
Historically, Biden’s significant fundraising moments have corresponded with pivotal political events. Following a difficult debate against Trump on June 27, he and his committees generated about $28 million within a day. Similarly, after Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million in the following days, while Trump and his affiliates collected $69 million during that same period, even causing a temporary crash of his campaign website.
In a broader context between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups amassed $431.2 million. As of late June, Biden had $281 million available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.