Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, the Democratic Party managed to raise $100 million from donors through its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue.
According to a live tracker maintained by developer Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project, ActBlue recorded this impressive total over the last two days. Although the figure is unofficial and based on ActBlue’s comprehensive donation data since 2004, it offers insight into the fundraising momentum leading up to formal disclosure reports.
On Sunday alone, an astounding $66.9 million was contributed, primarily to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the most significant fundraising day for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous top day for donations was on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Donald Trump.
With the Sunday surge, ActBlue has now raised a total of $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform established in late 2019, has collected approximately $4.3 billion to date.
ActBlue expressed encouragement regarding the influx of new donors, stating on X, previously known as Twitter, that many individuals made their first donations in the last 24 hours, underscoring the grassroots momentum.
Following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within just 24 hours. Additionally, Swing Left, which has launched a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same time frame.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, remarked that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and confirmed his commitment to supporting her. Prominent Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also expressed their backing for Harris.
Previously, Biden’s most substantial fundraising days occurred after a series of events, including his defeat by Trump during a June 27 debate, where he raised about $28 million overnight. Moreover, he gathered $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on multiple felony charges. Trump and his associated groups garnered $69 million in the immediate aftermath of his conviction, with a brief crash of his campaign website reported due to the influx of donations. Furthermore, the super PAC affiliated with Trump, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
Between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups accumulated $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden reported having $281 million in hand versus Trump’s $336.2 million.