Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million from donors through its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue.
The political action committee, ActBlue, reported a significant influx of donations over the past two days, tracked by developer Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While this figure is unofficial and based on ActBlue’s extensive donation history since 2004, it offers insights into fundraising activities ahead of formal disclosure deadlines.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million to launch Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the most successful fundraising day so far in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. This topped the previous notable fundraising day recorded on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
With the rise in donations, ActBlue also announced it had surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, its Republican counterpart, WinRed, which started in late 2019, has gathered around $4.3 billion.
ActBlue noted a surge in grassroots support, 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.”
In the wake of Biden’s announcement, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with him, reportedly secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors. Additionally, Swing Left announced it raised over $160,000 in the first 24 hours following Biden’s declaration.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, indicating it will be “very well financed” and reaffirming his support. Major Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also pledged their backing to Harris.
Historically, some of Biden’s most profitable fundraising days occurred following significant political events, including after his debate loss to Trump on June 27, which led to around $28 million in donations in the following days. Additionally, he raised $19.2 million after Trump faced felony counts, whereas Trump and his allies raised a staggering $69 million within days of his conviction, with some donations overwhelming his campaign website.
Between April and June, pro-Biden groups amassed $332.4 million compared to $431.2 million raised by pro-Trump entities. As of the end of June, Biden had $281 million in funding, while Trump had $336.2 million available.