Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats raised $100 million via ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform.
A recent poll from Coinbase shows that Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are currently tied in support among crypto voters. ActBlue, a political action committee aimed at supporting Democratic initiatives, reported this fundraising milestone within a two-day span, as monitored by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. This figure, while not officially verified, gives insight into the group’s financial performance ahead of any mandatory disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million to kickstart Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest fundraising day of the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous highest day for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Thanks to the substantial donations received on Sunday, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception twenty years ago. In contrast, WinRed, its Republican counterpart established in late 2019, has collected approximately $4.3 billion as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue released a statement on X, previously known as Twitter, noting the influx of new, first-time donors joining the grassroots movement, highlighting the motivation generated by recent events.
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, gathered $150 million in new commitments from significant donors within a day after Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Meanwhile, Swing Left, a group backing the eventual Democratic nominee, raised more than $160,000 within the same 24-hour period.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, declared on Monday that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” while pledging his support. Notable Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also expressed their backing for her.
In the past, Biden experienced notable fundraising spikes following major events. After his defeat to Trump during a televised debate on June 27, Biden and related committees collected approximately $28 million in just two days. Following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony charges, Biden raised $19.2 million, while Trump and his affiliated groups garnered $69 million during the same period, causing a temporary crash of his campaign website. The super PAC associated with Trump, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations amassed $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups collected $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in financial reserves compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.