Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats successfully raised $100 million from contributors via their primary fundraising platform.
According to a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, ActBlue, a political action committee dedicated to Democratic fundraising, noted this significant amount over a two-day span. Although this figure is not officially confirmed and is based on ActBlue’s internal tracking system, it offers insight into the group’s fundraising success ahead of required disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million for the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the most lucrative fundraising day so far in the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The second highest day in recent memory was recorded on September 30, 2020, the day of the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
As a result of the donation surge, ActBlue has now raised a total of $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican equivalent launched in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion to date.
ActBlue stated on Monday that they observed a spike in first-time donors, expressing enthusiasm for the growing grassroots movement.
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, received $150 million in new commitments from major contributors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and his endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which initiated a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 within the same time frame.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, indicated on Monday that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed” and confirmed his support for her. Prominent Democratic donors, George and Alex Soros, have also pledged their support.
Biden’s previous significant fundraising days occurred following his losses to Trump during a televised debate. After being defeated by Trump on June 27, Biden and his affiliates raised around $28 million from that day through the next. Additionally, he amassed $19.2 million after Trump was convicted on 34 felony charges. Trump and his associated groups raised $69 million within the day following his conviction, leading to a brief shutdown of his campaign website. The aligned super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., collected $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups garnered $431.2 million, with Biden holding $281 million in campaign funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million by the end of June.