Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats raised $100 million from supporters via its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, the political action committee that serves Democratic groups, reported the figure over the previous two days, according to a live tracker by Ryan Murphy, a developer with The Marshall Project. Although this amount has not been officially verified, it reflects ActBlue’s total fundraising activity since its inception in 2004, providing insight into its financial performance before formal disclosures are made.
On Sunday alone, Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign was bolstered by $66.9 million in donations, marking the most significant fundraising day for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The second-highest fundraising day in recent memory occurred on September 30, 2020, when Biden and Trump faced off in their first debate.
This surge in donations on Sunday pushed ActBlue’s total fundraising to $14 billion since its launch two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican counterpart that started in late 2019, has raised about $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue commented on X, formerly known as Twitter, highlighting that many individuals reported making their first-ever donations within the past 24 hours, emphasizing the encouragement of new small-dollar contributors joining the grassroots movement.
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors shortly after Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left, which initiated a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 within a day.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and expressed his support for her. Prominent Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also endorsed Harris.
Previously, Biden saw significant fundraising success following his defeat by former President Trump during a debate on June 27. Biden and his committees raised approximately $28 million from that day through June 28. After Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden generated $19.2 million in the subsequent days, while Trump and his affiliates raised $69 million in the 24 hours following his conviction on May 30. This influx momentarily crashed Trump’s campaign website, and his affiliated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations collected $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million, as reported by The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in available funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.