Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democratic groups raised $100 million from donors through their primary fundraising platform.
According to a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project, ActBlue, a political action committee and fundraising platform for Democrats, recorded this substantial amount over just two days. While this figure isn’t official, as it relies on ActBlue’s comprehensive donation tracker established in 2004, it offers insight into the group’s fundraising performance ahead of any mandated disclosures.
On the previous Sunday, donations peaked at $66.9 million for the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 election cycle via ActBlue. The second highest was recorded during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump on September 30, 2020, according to Murphy’s data.
The surge in donations on Sunday propelled ActBlue to surpass $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican equivalent established in late 2019, has garnered approximately $4.3 billion in donations, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed excitement on X, formerly known as Twitter, stating, “We’ve seen so many folks saying they made their first-ever donation in the last 24 hours! It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!”
In addition, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours after Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris, as reported by Politico. Meanwhile, Swing Left, which initiated a fund in support of the eventual Democratic nominee, revealed it raised over $160,000 within a similar timeframe.
Evercore founder Roger Altman stated that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed” and has offered his support. Notable Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also expressed their endorsement for Harris.
Previously, Biden experienced significant fundraising successes following his losses to Trump during a televised debate on June 27, where his campaign raised around $28 million within two days. He also generated $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, while Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million in the days after his conviction on May 30. The spike in support briefly crashed Trump’s campaign website, and his aligned super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
Between April and June, pro-Biden groups amassed $332.4 million compared to $431.2 million for pro-Trump groups. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million on hand, while Trump held $336.2 million.