Following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will not pursue re-election, the Democratic Party raised an impressive $100 million from contributors within a two-day span through ActBlue, its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that assists Democratic organizations, documented this fundraising achievement via a live tracker operated by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. Although the figure is unofficial, as it draws from ActBlue’s donation history since 2004, it offers insight into the organization’s fundraising activities leading up to the formal disclosure reports.
On Sunday alone, contributions surged to $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 cycle reported by ActBlue. This surpassed the previous notable fundraising day on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump, according to Murphy’s tracker.
This recent donation influx has enabled ActBlue to surpass $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that started in late 2019, has garnered approximately $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed its enthusiasm on social media, highlighting the influx of new donors, with many indicating they made their first-ever contributions in the last day. The organization noted, “It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!”
In addition, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reportedly secured $150 million in fresh commitments from major donors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and Harris’s endorsement. Swing Left, which has initiated a fund supporting the Democratic nominee, indicated it raised over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Evercore founder Roger Altman commented on Monday that Harris’s campaign is expected to be “very well financed” and has pledged his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also shown their backing for Harris.
Previously, Biden’s fundraising peaks were observed immediately after his losses to Trump during a debate on June 27, when his campaign and affiliated groups collected around $28 million in the following days. Biden’s campaign also raised $19.2 million after Trump faced criminal charges. Trump and his supporters raised $69 million in the immediate aftermath of his conviction on May 30, with Trump’s website briefly crashing due to the surge in donations. Concurrently, a super PAC supporting Trump, Make America Great Again Inc., reported pulling in $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups brought in $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in his campaign coffers compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.