Following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek re-election, the Democratic Party raised an impressive $100 million from donors through its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue, within just two days. This figure was reported through a live tracker maintained by developer Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While not officially verified, it showcases the fundraising momentum in the lead-up to mandatory disclosure periods.
On the first day of this surge, donors contributed approximately $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking a record fundraising day for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. Previously, the second-highest fundraising day occurred on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
This spike of donations enabled ActBlue to reach an impressive milestone of $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising equivalent that started in late 2019, has amassed about $4.3 billion to date.
ActBlue noted a significant increase in first-time donors, remarking on social media how inspiring it was to welcome new small-dollar contributors to the grassroots movement. In a related development, the super PAC Future Forward, aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in commitments from major donors shortly after the president’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, the group Swing Left reported raising over $160,000 within the same 24-hour period.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, labeling it as “very well financed” and indicating his personal support. Notable Democratic supporters, including mega-donors George and Alex Soros, have also rallied behind her.
Biden’s previous fundraising peaks were observed after he was bested by Donald Trump in a televised debate on June 27, which resulted in about $28 million raised by him and his associated committees in the following days. Notably, Biden secured $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, while Trump and his supporting entities raised $69 million in a similar timeframe, with their campaign website experiencing a temporary crash due to the influx of donations. In the broader context, pro-Biden groups collected $332.4 million between April and June, while pro-Trump factions garnered $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available, whereas Trump reported $336.2 million on hand.