Following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek re-election, the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue recorded an impressive $100 million in donations over a two-day period. This figure was reported via a live tracker created by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. Although this tally is considered unofficial and is based on ActBlue’s internal tracking of donations since its inception in 2004, it highlights significant fundraising activity just weeks ahead of upcoming official disclosures.
On Sunday alone, ActBlue saw an unprecedented $66.9 million in contributions to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, marking the largest single-day fundraising effort in the 2024 election cycle. This event eclipsed previous high points, including the significant fundraising that took place during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump on September 30, 2020.
The recent surge in donations also helped ActBlue surpass $14 billion in total funds raised over its twenty-year history. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that started in late 2019, has gathered around $4.3 billion, according to data from OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed its excitement over new small-dollar donors joining the movement, noting a substantial number of first-time contributors in the aftermath of Biden’s announcement. Additionally, the super PAC Future Forward, aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within just 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and Harris’s endorsement. Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Prominent backers for Harris’s campaign include Evercore founder Roger Altman and major Democratic donors George and Alex Soros. Historically, Biden’s most successful fundraising moments have often followed significant political events, such as his campaign raising $28 million shortly after a televised debate defeat to Trump. Following recent events, Biden’s campaign and its affiliates raised $332.4 million from April to June, though pro-Trump groups collected $431.2 million during the same period. By the end of June, Biden’s campaign had $281 million in funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.