A day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats successfully raised $100 million through its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee dedicated to Democratic fundraising, recorded this remarkable sum over the last two days, according to a live tracker managed by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project. Although the figure is unofficial—based on ActBlue’s extensive tracking of donations since 2004—it highlights the group’s fundraising achievements ahead of any mandatory disclosures.
On Sunday alone, a significant $66.9 million was raised to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, making it the most lucrative day for fundraising in the upcoming 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The second-highest fundraising day in recent history occurred on September 30, 2020, when Biden and Trump faced off in their first presidential debate, as noted by Murphy’s tracker.
The surge in donations on Sunday allowed ActBlue to surpass $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican equivalent which began operation in late 2019, has amassed approximately $4.3 billion in donations, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue reported on social media that they witnessed numerous individuals making their first donations in the 24 hours after Biden’s announcement, expressing enthusiasm about this influx of new small-dollar donors joining the grassroots effort.
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new pledges from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which launched a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in just 24 hours.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated on Monday that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and confirmed his backing for her. Major Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, are also supporting Harris.
In the past, Biden’s most successful fundraising days followed his loss to Trump during a televised debate on June 27, where Biden and his affiliates raised about $28 million by the next day, as analyzed by the New York Times.
Biden also raised $19.2 million in the days following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. Meanwhile, Trump and his affiliated groups garnered $69 million from May 30 to May 31 after his conviction. This donation influx even caused a temporary crash of Trump’s campaign website. Additionally, the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump entities collected $431.2 million, as reported by The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in funds available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.