Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not pursue re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million from donors using its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that serves Democratic groups, reported this amount over the last two days via a live tracker developed by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While this figure remains unofficial, it reflects significant fundraising results before any formal disclosures are required.
On Sunday alone, contributors donated $66.9 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 cycle, as recorded by ActBlue. The previous record was set on September 30, 2020, following the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
With the surge in donations, ActBlue has now raised a total of $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican donation platform that started in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion.
ActBlue noted the enthusiasm from new contributors, stating on X, previously known as Twitter, that many individuals made their first donations in the past 24 hours. “It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!” the organization remarked.
Furthermore, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, garnered $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign being “very well financed” and confirmed his support. Prominent donors like George and Alex Soros have also endorsed Harris.
Historically, Biden experienced his best fundraising days after significant political events, including a $28 million raise following a defeat against Trump in a June debate. Additionally, Biden raised $19.2 million shortly after Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. Trump’s campaign witnessed a surge, raising $69 million from the day of his conviction until the following day, briefly causing a crash on his campaign website. The aligned super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that same month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups accumulated $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in available funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.