Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats secured $100 million from donors through ActBlue, the main fundraising platform for Democratic organizations. This amount was recorded within a two-day period, according to a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy, a developer with The Marshall Project. While this figure is not formal and is based on ActBlue’s own records of donations since 2004, it offers insight into the fundraising success ahead of mandatory disclosures.
On Sunday, alone, donors contributed an impressive $66.9 million for the inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising tally for the 2024 election cycle on ActBlue. The previous record for daily contributions was recorded on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
As a result of this surge in donations, ActBlue has now raised a total of $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the fundraising platform for Republicans that started in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue noted the enthusiasm from new contributors, stating, “We’ve seen so many folks saying they made their first ever donation in the last 24 hours!” highlighting the influx of small-dollar donations joining the grassroots movement.
Furthermore, Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Biden, reported $150 million in new commitments from prominent donors within 24 hours following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, a group set up to back the eventual Democratic nominee, claimed it raised over $160,000 within the same timespan.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, remarked on Monday that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed” with his personal support pledged. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also aligned themselves with Harris.
Historically, Biden’s most fruitful fundraising days have occurred after significant events, such as a televised defeat to Trump during a debate in June 2020, which raised approximately $28 million within two days. After Trump faced conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump and his associated groups amassed $69 million following his conviction date, leading to a temporary crash of his campaign website. In the month following, Trump’s aligned super PAC brought in $70 million.
Between April and June, pro-Biden organizations secured $332.4 million in donations, compared to $431.2 million raised by pro-Trump groups. By the end of June, Biden held $281 million in funds, while Trump had $336.2 million available.