Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not pursue re-election, Democrats raised $100 million through their primary fundraising platform. ActBlue, a political action committee serving Democratic organizations, reported this figure over the last two days, as tracked by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While the tally is not official and is based on ActBlue’s donation tracker, it provides insight into the group’s fundraising efforts ahead of mandatory disclosures.
On Sunday alone, the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign drew $66.9 million in donations, marking the highest single-day fundraising total of the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous significant fundraising day occurred on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
ActBlue’s recent surge allowed it to surpass $14 billion in total cash raised since its inception two decades ago, while its Republican counterpart, WinRed, established in late 2019, has collected around $4.3 billion in donations, according to OpenSecrets.
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, ActBlue highlighted the number of people reporting their first donations in the past 24 hours, calling it a motivating sign of new grassroots support. Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors shortly after Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left reported raising over $160,000 within 24 hours for the eventual Democratic nominee.
Evercore founder Roger Altman expressed confidence in the financial backing Harris will receive and pledged his support. High-profile donors like George and Alex Soros have also shown their support for her campaign.
Historically, Biden’s most profitable fundraising days occurred following significant events, including a televised debate defeat by Trump on June 27, during which Biden’s campaigns raised approximately $28 million. After Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump’s campaign raised $69 million within a day of his conviction. This influx of donors temporarily crashed Trump’s campaign website, and another super PAC aligned with him raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups collected $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups garnered $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden’s campaign had $281 million on hand compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.