Less than 24 hours after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, the Democratic Party generated $100 million in donations through ActBlue, its primary fundraising platform.
According to Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, the notable fundraising feat occurred within just two days. Although this figure is not officially certified, it is drawn from ActBlue’s internal mega-tracker that logs donations since its inception in 2004, providing an early glimpse into the group’s financial momentum ahead of formal disclosure deadlines.
On Sunday, alone, a substantial $66.9 million was raised to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest single-day fundraising event in the 2024 electoral cycle for ActBlue. This surpassed the previous record set on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
As a result of this fundraising boost, ActBlue announced it has amassed $14 billion since its establishment two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican counterpart that started in late 2019, has accumulated around $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm about the surge in new donations, noting on X (formerly Twitter) that many individuals contributed for the first time. The platform remarked on the encouraging trend of small-dollar donors joining the grassroots effort.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Biden, secured $150 million in commitments from major donors within a day following his announcement and endorsement of Harris. Meanwhile, Swing Left, which created a fund for the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in just 24 hours.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, indicated on Monday that Harris’s campaign is expected to be “very well financed,” receiving support from influential Democratic donors like George and Alex Soros.
Historically, Biden’s strongest fundraising periods have followed significant political events. For example, right after a debate on June 27 where he faced off against Trump, Biden raised approximately $28 million in the following day. Following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden’s campaign gathered $19.2 million, while Trump’s campaign and affiliated groups brought in $69 million from May 30 to May 31, which temporarily overwhelmed Trump’s campaign website. A super PAC aligned with Trump, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
In total, from April to June, pro-Biden groups collected $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups received $431.2 million, as reported by The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million on hand compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.