Just one day after President Joe Biden announced that he would not pursue re-election, Democrats raised an impressive $100 million from contributors via their main fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee dedicated to supporting Democratic initiatives, reported this substantial amount collected over a two-day period, as tracked by Ryan Murphy, a developer with The Marshall Project. Although these figures are not officially confirmed—relying instead on ActBlue’s extensive donation tracking since 2004—they offer insights into the fundraising landscape ahead of the upcoming disclosure deadlines.
On Sunday alone, donors poured in $66.9 million to support the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue in this election cycle. This surpassed the second-highest single-day total recorded on September 30, 2020, when Biden and Trump faced off in their first debate.
As a result of this surge in contributions, ActBlue has now raised a total of $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican counterpart launched in late 2019, has collected approximately $4.3 billion since it started operating.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm about the influx of donations, 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, secured $150 million in fresh commitments from significant donors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which established a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same period.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated that Harris’s campaign is set to be “very well financed” and voiced his support for her candidacy. Notable Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also pledged their backing to Harris.
Historically, Biden’s most lucrative fundraising days occurred after he faced a significant defeat by Trump during a televised debate on June 27. Biden’s committees raised around $28 million between that day and the following day. Additionally, he garnered $19.2 million in the aftermath of Trump being convicted on 34 felony counts. Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million from May 30 to May 31 following his conviction, which temporarily crashed his campaign website. The associated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups managed to raise $332.4 million, while pro-Trump organizations collected $431.2 million, according to reports. By the end of June, Biden was holding $281 million in funds, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.