Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, the Democratic Party saw a surge in fundraising, amassing $100 million through its primary fundraising platform. ActBlue, a political action committee that facilitates donations for Democratic causes, reported the substantial amount within just two days, according to a live tracker developed by Ryan Murphy at The Marshall Project. While this figure is not official and comes from ActBlue’s own tracking since 2004, it offers insight into the party’s financial activities ahead of any mandated disclosure.
On Sunday alone, supporters contributed $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest fundraising day in the current election cycle for ActBlue. This new record surpasses the second largest day for donations, which occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
ActBlue has now surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican fundraising counterpart which started in late 2019, has accumulated about $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
In a comment, ActBlue highlighted the influx of first-time donors, expressing motivation from the grassroots engagement. Following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in fresh commitments from significant donors. Another organization, Swing Left, reported raising over $160,000 within a single day to support the eventual Democratic nominee.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s financial backing, stating her campaign would be “very well financed.” Notably, prominent Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also pledged their support for her campaign.
Historically, Biden’s strongest fundraising days have often followed unfavorable moments in debates against Trump, such as after a June 27 televised debate where Biden and his committees raised around $28 million. Following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden garnered $19.2 million. Conversely, Trump and his allied organizations raised $69 million in the 24 hours following his conviction on May 30, which notably crashed his campaign website. In addition, the pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million during that month.
As the fundraising landscape evolves, pro-Biden groups gathered $332.4 million from April to June, while pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the close of June, Biden had $281 million in available funds, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.