Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats raised an impressive $100 million from donors through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, the political action committee dedicated to supporting Democratic initiatives, reported this figure over the past two days, as noted by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. Although the amount is not officially confirmed, it offers insight into ActBlue’s fundraising performance ahead of any required disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed a remarkable $66.9 million, coinciding with the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest fundraising day in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous high occurred during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump on September 30, 2020.
This surge allowed ActBlue to surpass $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. Its Republican counterpart, WinRed, which was established in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed excitement over the influx of donations, noting many individuals made their first-ever contributions in the past 24 hours. They described the wave of new small-dollar donors as a motivating factor for the grassroots movement.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reported receiving $150 million in new pledges from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which has launched a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, also indicated that it raised over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, mentioned that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed” and confirmed his support for her. Prominent Democratic donors, George and Alex Soros, have similarly backed her campaign.
Previously, Biden experienced robust fundraising days immediately following his defeat in a televised debate against Trump on June 27, drawing around $28 million in just two days. He also raised $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. In contrast, Trump and his affiliated groups collected $69 million in a single day after his conviction, resulting in temporary crashes on his campaign website, and his aligned super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., secured $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump organizations accumulated $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in funds available, contrasted with Trump’s $336.2 million.