Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats raised $100 million through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic groups, reported this significant fundraising achievement over the past two days, according to a tracker managed by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While the total is not yet officially confirmed, as it derives from ActBlue’s internal records of donations since 2004, it highlights the organization’s fundraising capabilities just weeks before official reports are due.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, making it the largest single fundraising day in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous record for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
This surge brought ActBlue’s total fundraising to $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, its Republican counterpart which started in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue stated that many individuals announced their first-ever donations in the past 24 hours, expressing enthusiasm about the influx of new small-dollar donors and their commitment to the grassroots movement.
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day of his announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed” and committed his support. Prominent Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also pledged their backing.
Historically, Biden’s most successful fundraising days occurred shortly after his intense debate performances against Trump. For instance, he raised about $28 million in just two days following a debate loss on June 27. After Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million in the days that followed, while Trump and his affiliates amassed $69 million from May 30 to May 31, causing a temporary crash of his campaign website. An associated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million during that month.
Between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups collected $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in funds available, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.