A day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats raised $100 million through ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform. This figure was recorded over two days, according to a live tracking tool managed by Ryan Murphy at The Marshall Project. Although the total is not yet official, it indicates a significant influx of donations ahead of required financial disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donations for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign reached $66.9 million, making it the highest single-day fundraising effort in the 2024 election cycle on ActBlue. The previous notable fundraising day occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump, as reported by Murphy.
This recent surge enabled ActBlue to surpass $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the equivalent Republican fundraising platform launched in late 2019, has reportedly raised around $4.3 billion.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm over the number of first-time donors, highlighting the grassroots character of the fundraising efforts. Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left reported raising more than $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, remarked that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and confirmed his support for her candidacy. Notable Democratic donors, George and Alex Soros, have also shown their support for Harris.
Previously, Biden experienced significant fundraising days immediately following a televised debate with Trump on June 27, where he and his committees raised about $28 million. Biden also raised $19.2 million after Trump was convicted on multiple felony counts, while Trump’s campaign raised a staggering $69 million during the same period, causing a temporary crash of his campaign website. In the months between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump organizations collected $431.2 million, leading to Biden ending that period with $281 million on hand compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.