Democrats generated $100 million in donations through their primary fundraising platform, ActBlue, just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not pursue re-election. This figure, tracked by Ryan Murphy at The Marshall Project, reflects recent contributions despite being unofficial.
On a single day, donors provided $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the most substantial fundraising day for ActBlue in the current election cycle. The previous high for fundraising occurred on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
With this latest boost, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception 20 years ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican counterpart established in late 2019, has collected approximately $4.3 billion.
ActBlue reported significant engagement, stating many individuals made their first donations recently, emphasizing the encouragement from new small-dollar contributors to the grassroots movement.
In addition, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reportedly secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors following Biden’s announcement endorsing Harris. Swing Left, aiming to support the eventual Democratic nominee, raised over $160,000 shortly after Biden’s announcement.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and affirmed his support, along with that of prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros.
Historically, Biden’s most significant fundraising days occurred following his defeat by Trump during a televised debate in June, where he and his associated committees raised around $28 million. Additionally, following Trump’s conviction on multiple felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million, whereas Trump and his supportive groups raised $69 million, leading to temporary website crashes for Trump’s campaign.
From April to June, pro-Biden entities gathered $332.4 million, while pro-Trump organizations amassed $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden held $281 million in funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.