Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million from donors via ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform. This impressive total was reported over a two-day span, as noted by Ryan Murphy, a developer for The Marshall Project, who tracks donations. While this number is not officially confirmed, it offers insight into the fundraising efforts ahead of the required disclosure filings.
On Sunday, donors contributed $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest single-day fundraising event for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The second highest day in recent memory was September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
The surge in contributions on Sunday allowed ActBlue to reach a significant milestone of $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception twenty years ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican donation platform that began in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue announced on X, formerly Twitter, that many individuals were sharing stories of making their first-ever donation in the last 24 hours, indicating a strong grassroots response to the campaign launch.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, another group supporting the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign being well-funded and indicated his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also pledged their backing to Harris.
Historically, Biden has seen significant fundraising boosts following major events, such as when he raised approximately $28 million just after facing off against Trump in a debate on June 27. He also pulled in $19.2 million following Trump’s indictment on multiple felony counts. Trump’s aligned groups raised an impressive $69 million in just a day after his indictment, causing a temporary crash of his campaign website. In total, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million from April to June, while pro-Trump groups collected $431.2 million during the same period. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.