Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats secured $100 million from donors via their primary fundraising platform, ActBlue.
According to a live tracker managed by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project, ActBlue, which serves as a political action committee and a fundraising platform for Democratic organizations, recorded this amount over a span of two days. Although the figures are not official, as they stem from ActBlue’s internal mega-tracker tracking total donations since 2004, they offer insight into the group’s fundraising performance ahead of any statutory disclosures.
On Sunday, donors contributed an impressive $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous record was set on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
With the surge in donations on Sunday, ActBlue reached a significant milestone, totaling $14 billion raised since its establishment two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the fundraising counterpart for Republicans that began in late 2019, has collected approximately $4.3 billion.
ActBlue noted the enthusiasm from new contributors, 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!”
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reportedly received $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which has initiated a fund for the eventual Democratic nominee, indicated it raised over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed” and voiced his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also backed Harris.
Biden’s previous successful fundraising days were linked to his performances against Trump, particularly following a debate on June 27, when Biden and his committees raised around $28 million in a day. After Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump and his associated groups amassed $69 million over a similar period, causing a temporary crash of Trump’s campaign website. In addition, the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups collected $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden reported having $281 million available, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.