Democrats have generated $100 million from donors within just a day of President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek re-election. This figure was reported through ActBlue, a fundraising platform for Democratic organizations, which tracked these contributions via a live tracker developed by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. Although the total is unofficial and relies on ActBlue’s historical data since 2004, it provides an indication of fundraising efforts ahead of formal disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The previous record was set on September 30, 2020, during the first Biden-Trump presidential debate.
As a result of this donation surge, ActBlue’s total fundraising has surpassed $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform, has amassed approximately $4.3 billion since its launch in late 2019.
ActBlue noted an uptick in first-time donors in the 24 hours following Biden’s announcement, emphasizing the grassroots momentum building within the party. Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from high-profile donors shortly after Biden’s endorsement of Harris. Swing Left also reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated that Harris’s campaign is poised for significant financial backing and echoed the support of prominent Democratic donors like George and Alex Soros. Biden’s previous high-point fundraising occurred after a debate with Trump on June 27, where Biden raised about $28 million within that timeframe. He also garnered $19.2 million following Trump’s felony conviction, while Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million from the time of his conviction to the following day.
In total, between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump organizations collected $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden reported having $281 million in campaign funds, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.