Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, the Democratic Party garnered $100 million from donors via its primary fundraising platform.
According to a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project, ActBlue, the political action committee and fundraising platform for Democratic organizations, recorded this impressive amount over the last two days. While this figure is not officially confirmed and is based on ActBlue’s own totals since 2004, it gives an early indication of the group’s fundraising ability ahead of any formal disclosure reports.
On Sunday, donors contributed $66.9 million in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’s newly launched presidential campaign, marking the most significant day for fundraising in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous high for donations was recorded on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Following this surge in contributions, ActBlue reached a milestone of $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that began in late 2019, has brought in approximately $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue highlighted a noticeable trend in their latest statement, noting that many individuals reported making their first-ever donations in just the past 24 hours, which they found to be highly motivating for the grassroots movement.
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, received $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and subsequent endorsement of Harris. Additionally, the group Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, indicated it raised over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, stating it would be “very well financed” while also pledging his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also shown their backing for Harris.
Historically, Biden’s fundraising peaks have followed major political events, such as raising about $28 million in the aftermath of his debate defeat to Trump on June 27. He also gathered $19.2 million after Trump faced felony charges. During the same period, Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million, leading to a temporary crash of his campaign’s website due to the influx of donations. The super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. also reported raising $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations accumulated $332.4 million, while pro-Trump entities raised $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden’s campaign held $281 million while Trump had $336.2 million in available funds.