Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that facilitates fundraising for Democratic groups, reported this amount over a two-day period, according to Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project. While the total is not official and comes from ActBlue’s own donation tracker since 2004, it highlights the group’s significant fundraising activities prior to upcoming required disclosures.
On Sunday, donors contributed $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest single fundraising day for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous high was recorded on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate featuring Biden and Trump.
This surge in donations has allowed ActBlue to surpass $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago, while its Republican counterpart, WinRed, has accumulated about $4.3 billion since launching in late 2019.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm over the increased activity, stating that many individuals reported making their first-ever donations within the last day. They called the influx of new small-dollar donors a major boost for the grassroots movement.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, garnered $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which created a fund for the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same time frame.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated on Monday that Harris’s campaign would be well-funded, pledging his support. Prominent Democratic donors such as George and Alex Soros have also expressed their backing for Harris.
Historically, Biden’s fundraising peaks have occurred after significant campaign events. For instance, he raised approximately $28 million in the aftermath of a televised debate loss to Trump on June 27. In the days following Trump’s 34 felony count conviction, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump and his affiliates amassed $69 million around the same timeframe, causing a temporary crash of his campaign website. Trump’s super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
Between April and June, pro-Biden groups collected $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million, as reported by The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.