Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not pursue re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million from donors through its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that serves Democratic groups, reported this figure over a two-day period, as noted by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project. While the number is not official and is based on ActBlue’s donation tracker established in 2004, it offers a glimpse into the organization’s fundraising performance ahead of any formal disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the most significant fundraising day so far in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous high for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Following the surge in donations, ActBlue reached a milestone of $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising counterpart that started in late 2019, has gathered around $4.3 billion in that time.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm about the influx of new donors, stating on X, previously known as Twitter, that many individuals made their first donations recently. “It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!” the organization said.
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reported securing $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left, which established a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, mentioned raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, commented that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and expressed his support for her candidacy. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also shown their backing for Harris.
Previously, Biden’s notable fundraising days followed his debate loss to Trump on June 27, when he and his committees raised approximately $28 million in the days after. Biden also raised $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. During that period, Trump and his affiliated groups collected $69 million in just two days after the conviction, briefly causing Trump’s campaign website to crash. The pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that same month.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations raised a total of $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups garnered $431.2 million according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.