Following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek re-election, Democrats successfully raised $100 million through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee dedicated to the Democratic Party, reported this amount over the past two days via a live tracker managed by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project. While these figures are unofficial and drawn from ActBlue’s donation history dating back to 2004, they reflect a significant fundraising wave just weeks ahead of required financial disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, making it the largest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The second highest fundraising day in recent memory was September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Thanks to the spike in donations, ActBlue surpassed a total of $14 billion in funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, its Republican counterpart, WinRed, which started in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm over the influx of new small-dollar donors, noting many made their first donations in the past 24 hours. In addition to ActBlue’s success, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in commitments from major donors shortly after his announcement, while Swing Left announced it raised over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, commented that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and offered his support. Major Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also shown their backing for Harris.
Biden’s fundraising has historically surged following high-profile moments. For instance, he raised roughly $28 million right after a notable debate defeat against Trump on June 27. Additionally, he collected $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, while Trump’s fundraising efforts yielded about $69 million during that period, overwhelming his campaign website.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups amassed $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups garnered $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available, while Trump had $336.2 million.