Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats successfully raised $100 million from donors using its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue. The news was highlighted by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, who noted that this total was gathered over the previous two days, although it is not an official tally.
On Sunday alone, contributions soared to $66.9 million for the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. For comparison, the second-highest fundraising day in recent memory occurred on September 30, 2020, when Biden and Trump faced off in their first presidential debate.
With this recent influx of donations, ActBlue has reached a significant milestone of $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising counterpart established in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion to date.
ActBlue expressed excitement over the surge in contributions, stating, “We’ve seen so many folks saying they made their first ever donation in the last 24 hours! It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!”
In addition, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, garnered $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day following Biden’s announcement and his endorsement of Harris, according to Politico. Swing Left, which initiated a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in 24 hours.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, stating it would be “very well financed” and pledged his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also shown their backing for Harris.
Historically, Biden’s fundraising spikes have often followed significant events, such as after his defeat by Trump during a debate on June 27, when Biden raised about $28 million in the following days. In the wake of Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump and his affiliated groups collected a staggering $69 million during the same period, temporarily crashing his campaign website. That month, Trump’s super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, compared to pro-Trump groups, which amassed $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in hand, while Trump had $336.2 million.