Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, the Democratic Party successfully raised $100 million from donors through its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue. This fundraising boost occurred over a two-day period, as reported by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, who maintains a live tracker of donations.
On Sunday alone, supporters contributed an impressive $66.9 million to kickstart Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking it as the highest fundraising day for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous record for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, after the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
The recent donation surge propelled ActBlue past the $14 billion mark in total funds raised since its inception 20 years ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that began in late 2019, has raised around $4.3 billion to date.
ActBlue announced on social media that many donors reported making their first contributions in the last 24 hours, energizing the grassroots movement with new small-dollar supporters.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, garnered $150 million in new commitments from notable donors within a day of his announcement. Swing Left also reported raising over $160,000 in support of the eventual Democratic nominee within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence that Harris’s campaign will be well-funded and confirmed his support for her. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also shown their backing for Harris.
Previously, Biden experienced significant fundraising activity following his defeat by Trump during a televised debate on June 27, which led to approximately $28 million raised in the following days. Biden also raised $19.2 million after Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, while Trump and affiliated groups raised $69 million in the days surrounding his conviction on May 30. This influx temporarily crashed Trump’s campaign website, and the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. raised $70 million that month.
Between April and June, Biden-aligned groups collected $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million, highlighting the competitive fundraising landscape. By the end of June, Biden reported having $281 million in reserves compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.