A day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats successfully raised $100 million from their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, the political action committee facilitating fundraising for Democratic organizations, tracked this impressive amount over a two-day period, as noted by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project. While this figure is unofficial, it highlights ActBlue’s fundraising performance ahead of any forthcoming disclosure requirements.
On Sunday alone, donations reached $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest fundraising day for ActBlue so far in the 2024 election cycle. The previous record for recent donations was set on September 30, 2020, the day of the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Thanks to the influx of contributions, ActBlue has now raised a total of $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, its Republican counterpart, WinRed, which started in late 2019, has secured around $4.3 billion in donations.
ActBlue shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, that many individuals reported making their first-ever donations in the last 24 hours, expressing excitement about the growth of grassroots support.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, garnered $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours post-Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris, as reported by Politico. Another group, Swing Left, announced it raised over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated that Harris’s campaign is expected to be “very well financed” and pledged his support. Notably, Democratic heavyweights George and Alex Soros have also shown their backing for Harris.
Biden’s previous significant fundraising events occurred shortly after he faced a loss against former President Donald Trump during a televised debate on June 27, when his campaign raised around $28 million within two days. He also raised $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony charges. Trump and his affiliated groups amassed $69 million from May 30 to May 31, an influx that briefly disrupted Trump’s campaign website. An associated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups collected $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups brought in $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.