Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million from donors through its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that serves Democratic groups, reported this remarkable total over the past two days via a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While this figure is unofficial, it offers insight into the fundraising performance ahead of any required disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, marking the most significant fundraising day in the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The second-largest donation day recently was on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
As a result of this donation surge, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion in total cash raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, its Republican counterpart that launched in late 2019, has collected about $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed excitement over the influx of new donors, stating on X, formerly Twitter, that many made their first donations in the past 24 hours, highlighting the grassroots momentum.
Following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, obtained $150 million in fresh commitments from major donors within one day. Additionally, Swing Left reported raising over $160,000 to support the eventual Democratic nominee within the same timeframe.
Evercore founder Roger Altman indicated strong financial backing for Harris’s campaign, affirming his support, while prominent Democratic donors like George and Alex Soros have also endorsed her.
Historically, Biden’s most substantial fundraising efforts coincided with challenging moments, such as after his defeat by Trump during a televised debate on June 27, where he and associated committees raised about $28 million. He also raised $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. In contrast, Trump and his supporters garnered $69 million in the 24 hours following his conviction. This surge of donations caused a brief crash on Trump’s campaign website, and an associated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups collected $332.4 million, while those supporting Trump raised $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.