Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million from donors through its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue. This significant amount was reported over the past two days, according to a tracker maintained by a developer at The Marshall Project. While not an official count, this figure reflects the fundraising activities of the group ahead of any mandated financial disclosures.
On Sunday alone, supporters contributed $66.9 million to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous peak for donations was during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump on September 30, 2020.
As a result of the surge in contributions, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform launched in late 2019, has accumulated about $4.3 billion in donations.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm about the influx of new donors, noting that many individuals reported making their first donation in the last 24 hours, which they described as a positive sign for grassroots engagement.
In addition, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day of his announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which has initiated support for the eventual Democratic nominee, raised over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign financing, while prominent Democratic donors such as George and Alex Soros have also shown their support for her. Historically, Biden experienced substantial fundraising gains after significant events, including a post-debate rally in June where he and his committees collected approximately $28 million following a debate loss to Trump.
Additionally, Biden raised $19.2 million just after Trump faced convictions on multiple felony counts. From May 30 to May 31, Trump and his affiliates managed to raise $69 million, with the surge in donations causing a temporary crash of his campaign website. His affiliated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million during that same period.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups attracted $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in available funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.