Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million from donors via ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform.
According to a live tracker developed by Ryan Murphy at The Marshall Project, ActBlue recorded this impressive amount over the last two days. Although this figure is not official, as it is based on ActBlue’s comprehensive records since 2004, it provides insight into the fundraising efforts happening ahead of any official disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, making it the highest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous record was set on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate.
The surge in donations on Sunday also pushed ActBlue’s total cash raised to $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform established in late 2019, has raised about $4.3 billion to date.
“We’ve seen many people say they made their first donation in the last 24 hours!” ActBlue stated in a message on X, previously known as Twitter. “It’s so encouraging to see new small-dollar donors joining the grassroots movement!”
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reportedly received $150 million in new commitments from significant donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and his endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left, which has initiated a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, the founder of Evercore, expressed his confidence in Harris’s campaign on Monday, stating it will be “very well financed,” and confirmed his support for her bid. Prominent Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also thrown their support behind Harris.
Previously, Biden’s most successful fundraising days occurred directly after he faced off against Trump in a televised debate on June 27, where he raised approximately $28 million in just two days. Following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump and his associated groups accumulated $69 million from May 30 to May 31. This influx of support even caused a temporary crash of Trump’s campaign website. The aligned super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million in that month alone.
Between April and June, pro-Biden organizations raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups garnered $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available in comparison to Trump’s $336.2 million.