Less than 24 hours after President Joe Biden announced that he would not run for re-election, Democratic fundraising saw a significant boost, amassing $100 million through its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue.
According to a live tracker developed by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project, this impressive amount was recorded over a two-day period. Although these figures are not officially confirmed, they provide an early indication of fundraising success before formal disclosures are made.
On Sunday, a remarkable $66.9 million was raised to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous record for daily donations was established on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
With the donations from Sunday, ActBlue reached a milestone of $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, its Republican counterpart, WinRed, which started in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue stated on social media that they have observed many new donors making their first contributions in the last day, highlighting the surge of grassroots support for the movement.
In addition, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours following Biden’s announcement and Harris’s endorsement. Swing Left, which recently initiated a fund to support the Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed on Monday that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and affirmed his support for her candidacy. Additionally, prominent Democratic donors, George and Alex Soros, have endorsed Harris as well.
Previously, Biden had notable fundraising successes after key events, such as raising approximately $28 million following his defeat by Trump in a debate on June 27. He also garnered $19.2 million shortly after Trump was convicted on felony charges. Conversely, Trump and his allied groups raised $69 million in the days following his conviction, with a surge of donations that briefly overwhelmed his campaign website. An associated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million while pro-Trump groups collected $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in available funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.