In the wake of President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will not pursue re-election, Democrats made a significant fundraising leap, securing $100 million through ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform, within two days. This figure comes from a tracker maintained by developer Ryan Murphy at The Marshall Project, which, although not official, highlights the group’s fundraising prowess ahead of any formal disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions totaled $66.9 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, marking the largest single-day fundraising effort for the 2024 cycle via ActBlue. The previous record was set on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
The influx of donations also pushed ActBlue’s overall fundraising total to $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, its Republican counterpart, WinRed, which began in late 2019, has raised around $4.3 billion.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm about the engagement, stating, “We’ve seen so many folks saying they made their first ever donation in the last 24 hours! It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!”
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reported attracting $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and Harris’s endorsement. Swing Left, a group supporting the ultimate Democratic nominee, mentioned that it raised over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, indicated strong financial backing for Harris’s campaign and voiced his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also thrown their support behind Harris.
Historically, Biden has seen significant fundraising boosts following political events, notably raising around $28 million shortly after facing Trump during a debate on June 27. Additionally, Biden garnered $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. Conversely, Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million within days of his conviction, leading to moments where his campaign website experienced crashes due to the spike in donations. In comparison, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million between April and June, while pro-Trump efforts collected $431.2 million, leaving Biden with $281 million and Trump with $336.2 million by the end of June.