Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats raised an impressive $100 million from donors through ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform.
According to a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, this amount was generated over the preceding two days. While the tally is not official and is based on ActBlue’s own donation tracking since 2004, it highlights the organization’s fundraising achievements just weeks before any mandatory financial disclosures are due.
On Sunday alone, contributions surged to $66.9 million as Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign, marking the largest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous record for a similar day was set on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
This significant influx of donations allowed ActBlue to reach a milestone of $14 billion raised since its establishment two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform launched in late 2019, has garnered approximately $4.3 billion during its operational period.
ActBlue noted on social media that they witnessed numerous first-time donors in the past 24 hours, expressing enthusiasm over the growth of their grassroots movement. Meanwhile, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reportedly secured $150 million in new commitments from major contributors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. In a similar vein, Swing Left, which aims to support the Democratic nominee, announced it raised over $160,000 in just one day.
On Monday, Evercore founder Roger Altman expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, stating it would be “very well financed” and offered his support. Noteworthy Democratic mega-donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also shown their backing for Harris.
Historically, Biden has experienced strong fundraising following significant political events. Following a televised debate defeat to Trump in June, Biden and his committees raised about $28 million within a day. In the wake of Trump’s conviction on felony charges, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump’s networks collected a staggering $69 million in just two days after his legal troubles began.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump organizations secured $431.2 million, according to reports. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in campaign funds, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.