In the wake of President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will not pursue re-election, the Democratic Party has raised an impressive $100 million from donors through ActBlue, its primary fundraising platform. This amount was collected over just two days, as reported by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, who maintains a live donation tracker for ActBlue.
On Sunday alone, Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launched with donors contributing $66.9 million, marking the highest single-day fundraising for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous record for daily donations occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Following this wave of donations, ActBlue reached a significant milestone, having raised $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that started in late 2019, has collected around $4.3 billion.
ActBlue highlighted that many new small-dollar donors made their first contributions recently, signaling robust grassroots enthusiasm for the campaign. Meanwhile, Future Forward, a pro-Biden super PAC, garnered $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, the group Swing Left raised over $160,000 shortly after the news.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, indicating it would be well-financed and reaffirmed his support. Moreover, notable Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have pledged their backing to Harris.
Previously, Biden experienced substantial fundraising spikes following key events, such as after his debates with Trump and significant legal developments affecting Trump, including the latter’s conviction on multiple felony counts. In the aftermath of Trump’s legal challenges, Trump and associated groups raised considerable amounts, with reports indicating a temporary crash of his campaign website due to the influx of donations.
Overall, between April and June, pro-Biden organizations raised approximately $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups accumulated around $431.2 million. As of the end of June, Biden held $281 million in funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.