Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democratic fundraising saw a significant boost, raising $100 million through ActBlue, the primary fundraising platform for Democratic organizations.
In the last two days, donations poured in, highlighted by $66.9 million contributed on Sunday alone for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch. This marked the largest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous record for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
This surge in contributions pushed ActBlue’s total fundraising to $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform launched in late 2019, has raised around $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue celebrated the influx of new donors on social media, noting that many made their first donations in response to the recent developments. Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Biden, received $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours of the announcement, while Swing Left reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Support for Harris’s campaign continues to grow, with backing from prominent Democratic figures like George and Alex Soros. Previously, Biden’s fundraising peaks were following major political events, including raising about $28 million after a debate loss to Trump in June.
The fundraising dynamics between Democratic and Republican groups reveal a close race; pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million between April and June, while pro-Trump groups brought in $431.2 million in the same period. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million on hand against Trump’s $336.2 million.