Just a day after President Joe Biden announced that he would not run for re-election, Democrats successfully raised $100 million from donors using ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform.
The totals, recorded over two days by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, indicate a significant influx of donations. While these figures are not official as they come from ActBlue’s internal tracker, they offer insights into fundraising performance ahead of any formal disclosures.
On Sunday alone, $66.9 million was raised for the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue in the current election cycle. The previous record was set on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
This surge helped ActBlue surpass $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, which serves Republican fundraising needs and started in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue noted an increase in first-time donations, saying, “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 new commitments from major donors within 24 hours following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed his belief that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and affirmed his support. High-profile Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, are also backing Harris.
Previously, Biden had notable fundraising days post debates, including raising approximately $28 million after receiving criticism from Trump during a televised debate in late June. He garnered $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, while Trump raised $69 million in the immediate aftermath of that ruling. A surge of donations at that time led to a temporary crash of Trump’s campaign website.
In total, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million between April and June, while pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million during the same period. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.