Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million from donors via its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee dedicated to fundraising for Democratic causes, reported this impressive total over the last two days, as tracked by Ryan Murphy, a developer with The Marshall Project. Though this figure is not officially sanctioned, as it is derived from ActBlue’s own extensive records of donations since 2004, it offers insight into the organization’s fundraising performance prior to mandatory disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million for the kick-off of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single day of fundraising in the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The second-highest amount in recent history occurred on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Thanks to this influx of donations, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that launched in late 2019, has generated approximately $4.3 billion during its operational period.
ActBlue noted in a statement on social media that many donors reported making their first-ever contributions in the 24 hours following Biden’s announcement. This enthusiasm for grassroots support was highlighted as a motivating factor for the campaign.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left reported that it raised over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence that Harris’s campaign will be robustly funded, and noted the backing from Democratic heavyweights like George and Alex Soros.
Biden previously experienced significant fundraising boosts following notable events, including a debate loss to Trump on June 27, when he and his committees raised about $28 million in just over a day, as reported by the New York Times. In the aftermath of Trump’s indictment on multiple felony charges, Biden raised $19.2 million, while pro-Trump groups garnered $69 million, causing a temporary crash of Trump’s campaign website due to the surge in donations.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations amassed $332.4 million, while their pro-Trump counterparts collected $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.