Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he will not pursue re-election, Democrats reportedly collected $100 million from contributors through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee and fundraising service for Democratic organizations, recorded this amount over a span of two days, based on a live tracker developed by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While this figure is not official and relies on ActBlue’s extensive donation tracking since 2004, it provides insight into the fundraising activity ahead of formal disclosure deadlines.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed approximately $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue so far in the 2024 election cycle. The previous record for contributions happened on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Due to the significant influx of donations on Sunday, ActBlue reached a cumulative total of $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that began operations in late 2019, has amassed around $4.3 billion to date.
ActBlue noted on social media that many individuals reported making their first donation in the 24 hours following Biden’s announcement, emphasizing the excitement of welcoming new small-dollar contributors to the grassroots movement.
Additionally, a super PAC aligned with Biden, called Future Forward, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors shortly after Biden’s announcement and his endorsement of Harris, according to Politico. Another group, Swing Left, reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed his belief that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed” and pledged his support. Notable Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also endorsed Harris.
Biden previously experienced significant fundraising boosts following key events, notably after his contentious debate defeat by Trump on June 27, which resulted in approximately $28 million raised in the following days. Biden secured an additional $19.2 million after Trump faced 34 felony charges. During that time, Trump and supporting organizations raised $69 million immediately after his conviction, leading to a temporary crash of his campaign website. An associated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., also raised $70 million in that month.
Between April and June, pro-Biden entities accrued $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups raised $431.2 million, with Biden ending June holding $281 million against Trump’s $336.2 million.