Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democratic fundraising efforts surged, achieving $100 million from donors through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that provides fundraising support to Democratic organizations, reported this amount over the past two days, as recorded by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project. Although this figure is not official, it offers insight into fundraising activity prior to any formal financial disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest single day of fundraising in the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The second-highest day for donations in recent memory occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump, according to Murphy’s tracker.
The significant contributions on Sunday helped ActBlue surpass $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform launched in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion to date, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue stated on X (formerly Twitter) that many new donors have made their first contributions in the last 24 hours, indicating a strong grassroots movement. Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, received $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day following Biden’s endorsement of Harris. The group Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed his belief that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed,” confirming his support along with backing from prominent Democratic donors George and Alex Soros.
Historically, Biden’s most successful fundraising days occurred after significant events, including a televised debate loss to Trump on June 27, which led to approximately $28 million in donations in the subsequent days. Following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump and his affiliated groups garnered $69 million in just one day following his conviction, with donations overwhelming his campaign website.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups totaled $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden reported having $281 million, while Trump had $336.2 million at his disposal.