Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democratic fundraising efforts saw a significant boost, raising $100 million from donors through ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform.
According to a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project, ActBlue recorded this impressive amount over a two-day period. Though the figure is not officially verified, it is drawn from ActBlue’s comprehensive tracker of donations since its inception in 2004, providing a preliminary look at fundraising outcomes ahead of required financial disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign reached $66.9 million, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 cycle via ActBlue. This impressive day eclipsed previous high points, including one on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump, as noted by Murphy.
The influx of donations on Sunday helped ActBlue surpass $14 billion in total funds raised over the past two decades. Meanwhile, WinRed, its Republican counterpart, has raised approximately $4.3 billion since launching in late 2019, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed excitement over the surge, reporting that many donors were making their first contributions within the last 24 hours. “It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!” the platform stated on X, previously known as Twitter.
In addition, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reported receiving $150 million in new commitments from major donors in the wake of Biden’s announcement and his endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which started a fund to support the future Democratic nominee, indicated that it raised over $160,000 within the same 24-hour window.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, remarked on Monday that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and expressed his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, also voiced their backing for Harris.
Previously, Biden’s notable fundraising events occurred shortly after losses against Trump during televised debates, such as raising approximately $28 million in June 2020 following a defeat. In the aftermath of Trump’s conviction on multiple felony counts, Biden had raised $19.2 million, while Trump’s associated groups saw a considerable surge, bringing in $69 million within a day of the conviction.
Overall, from April to June, pro-Biden organizations raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups accumulated $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden held $281 million in available funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.