Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democratic fundraising saw a significant spike, raising $100 million through ActBlue, a prominent fundraising platform used by Democratic groups.
The impressive totals were reported by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, using a live tracker that tracks donations through ActBlue since its inception in 2004. Although not an official figure, it gives insight into fundraising efforts ahead of mandatory financial disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donations totaled $66.9 million for the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 election cycle through ActBlue. The previous strong day for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump, according to the tracker.
With this recent surge, ActBlue has now raised a total of $14 billion since it started two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform launched in late 2019, has collected around $4.3 billion during its operational period.
ActBlue noted the excitement among new donors, stating that many reported making their first contributions in the last 24 hours, reflecting a growing grassroots movement.
The super PAC Future Forward, aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from significant donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and Harris’s endorsement. Additionally, Swing Left, which formed a fund to support the eventual Democratic candidate, raised over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Evercore founder Roger Altman expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, stating it would be “very well financed,” and noted support from major Democratic donors such as George and Alex Soros.
Historically, Biden’s strongest fundraising days followed key moments against Trump. After a televised debate loss on June 27, Biden and his committees raised approximately $28 million within 24 hours. Similarly, following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden garnered $19.2 million. In comparison, Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million in the days after his conviction.
Between April and June, pro-Biden organizations accumulated $332.4 million, while pro-Trump entities garnered $431.2 million, as reported by The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in hand compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.