Just a day after President Joe Biden announced that he would not run for re-election, Democratic fundraising surged, with $100 million raised from donors via its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic initiatives, documented this amount over the past two days according to a tracker created by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While the total is not official, it highlights the fundraising efficiency of the group ahead of any required public disclosures.
On the previous Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million following Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign announcement, marking the most successful fundraising day of the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. This surpassed previous significant fundraising days, including one during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump in September 2020.
ActBlue’s fundraising milestone now stands at $14 billion since its inception two decades ago, while its Republican counterpart, WinRed, which started in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion.
ActBlue reported an enthusiastic response from new supporters on social media, noting many individuals made their first donations in the last 24 hours. Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new pledges from major donors shortly after Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left, which supports the upcoming Democratic nominee, raised over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, the founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, indicating it would be “very well financed,” and highlighted support from prominent Democratic donors like George and Alex Soros.
Biden previously enjoyed strong fundraising days right after significant events, such as following his June debate defeat to Trump, raising around $28 million in the days that followed. He also raised $19.2 million after Trump faced felony convictions earlier this year. Trump’s campaign saw a remarkable influx of donations, including nearly $70 million raised by an affiliated super PAC in a single month.
In total, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million from April to June, while pro-Trump factions brought in $431.2 million. As of late June, Biden had $281 million in his campaign coffers compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.