Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats raised $100 million through their primary fundraising platform, ActBlue.
The platform, which is designed for political action committees and fundraising efforts for Democratic initiatives, saw a significant influx of donations, particularly after Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign. On Sunday alone, contributors provided $66.9 million, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 election cycle on ActBlue. This surpassed the previous record set on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
ActBlue’s fundraising efforts have now accumulated $14 billion since the platform’s inception, outpacing its Republican counterpart, WinRed, which has raised approximately $4.3 billion since its launch in late 2019.
In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, ActBlue expressed enthusiasm over the surge in donations, noting that many contributors were making their first donations.
Moreover, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, garnered $150 million from major donors within 24 hours following his announcement and endorsement of Harris. Another group, Swing Left, reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, emphasized that Harris’s campaign would be well-funded and confirmed his support for her bid. Notably, prominent Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also expressed their backing for Harris.
Previously, Biden experienced fundraising spikes after significant political events, such as his debate loss to Trump on June 27, which led to around $28 million raised over a two-day period, according to a New York Times analysis. Biden raised $19.2 million after Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, while Trump’s associated groups raised $69 million in the days immediately following the conviction, causing a temporary crash of his campaign website. In total, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million between April and June, while pro-Trump groups collected $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million on hand, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.