Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats garnered $100 million in donations via their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that facilitates fundraising for Democratic organizations, recorded this amount over a two-day period, according to a real-time donation tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While the figure is not officially confirmed, it offers insight into the fundraising momentum ahead of required disclosure filings.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed an impressive $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest fundraising day in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. This surpassed previous notable fundraising events, including the $28 million raised during the days following Biden’s debate defeat to Trump on June 27, 2020.
As a result of the significant donation influx, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its founding 20 years ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform established in late 2019, has raised around $4.3 billion to date.
ActBlue noted a surge in first-time donors stating, “We’ve seen so many folks saying they made their first ever donation in the last 24 hours! It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!”
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reportedly secured $150 million in fresh commitments from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, raised over $160,000 in the same 24-hour span.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed,” and notable Democratic donors like George and Alex Soros have extended their support to her.
Previously, Biden’s most significant fundraising spikes followed critical moments during his campaigns, including $19.2 million raised in the aftermath of Trump’s felony convictions. Between April and June, pro-Biden groups amassed $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million, leaving Biden with $281 million in resources compared to Trump’s $336.2 million by the end of June.