Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not pursue re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million from donors through its main fundraising platform, ActBlue. According to a live tracker by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project, this amount was collected over just two days. While the total is not an official figure, it reflects the fundraising performance of the group in the lead-up to upcoming mandatory disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donations amounted to $66.9 million following the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the most successful fundraising day in the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. Previously, the second-highest day was on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Donald Trump.
The influx of funds allowed ActBlue to surpass $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican counterpart founded in late 2019, has gathered approximately $4.3 billion according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm on social media, noting that numerous individuals reported making their first-ever donations within the past 24 hours, emphasizing the momentum of grassroots support.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in commitments from major donors right after Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Another group, Swing Left, also reported raising over $160,000 within 24 hours.
Evercore founder Roger Altman stated that Harris’s campaign is expected to be “very well financed” and confirmed his support for her. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also endorsed Harris.
Biden’s previous strong fundraising days occurred following significant events, such as a televised debate defeat by Trump, where his committees raised about $28 million. Additionally, in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s conviction on felony counts, Biden’s camp raised $19.2 million, while Trump and related groups amassed $69 million during a similar timeframe.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups collected $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups garnered $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.