Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not pursue re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million through its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue.
According to a live tracking tool maintained by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project, the total was accumulated over the course of two days, although it is not officially verified. This figure is derived from ActBlue’s extensive tracking of total donations since its inception in 2004.
On Sunday alone, Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign garnered $66.9 million from donors, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. For context, the second-highest day for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump, as noted by Murphy’s tracker.
As a result of this recent fundraising surge, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion raised since its launch two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican counterpart that started in late 2019, has collected approximately $4.3 billion, based on data from OpenSecrets.
ActBlue shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it had observed many first-time donors contributing in the past 24 hours, calling it a motivating sign for grassroots movements.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Biden, received $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which has initiated a fund for the future Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Evercore founder Roger Altman expressed his belief that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and has pledged his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also endorsed Harris.
Historically, Biden’s most successful fundraising periods occurred shortly after significant challenges, including a large fundraising boost following a televised debate defeat against Donald Trump on June 27, raising approximately $28 million within 24 hours. Additionally, following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million in the ensuing days, while Trump and his affiliated groups managed to raise $69 million in the 24 hours post-conviction.
Between April and June, Democratic groups supporting Biden raised $332.4 million, whereas Trump-supporting groups accumulated $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.