Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not pursue re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million from donors through its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee focused on fundraising for Democratic causes, reported the total collected over the last two days through its live tracker, which is maintained by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project. Although this figure is not officially confirmed, it offers insight into the group’s fundraising achievements ahead of forthcoming disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising effort for the 2024 election cycle via ActBlue. The previous record for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Due to the significant fundraising surge on Sunday, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its establishment two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican equivalent that started in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion since its inception.
ActBlue expressed excitement over the influx of new donors, noting that many reported making their first-ever donations in the last 24 hours. “It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!” the organization stated on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.
In conjunction with Biden’s announcement and Harris’s endorsement, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day. Meanwhile, the group Swing Left reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Evercore founder Roger Altman expressed confidence in the financial backing of Harris’s campaign, committing his support. Notable Democratic donors such as George and Alex Soros have also endorsed her candidacy.
Historically, Biden’s most successful fundraising days followed significant campaign moments, such as after he lost a debate to Donald Trump on June 27, when he and his committees raised about $28 million in just over 24 hours. He also garnered $19.2 million in the aftermath of Trump’s felony charges, while Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million during the same period. An associated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised another $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump entities brought in $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million cash on hand compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.