Just one day after President Joe Biden announced that he would not run for re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million through its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic initiatives, reported these figures over a two-day span, according to Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project who tracks donations. Although this number hasn’t been officially confirmed, it illustrates the fundraising capabilities of the group ahead of the required disclosure deadlines.
On Sunday alone, contributors donated $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, making it the largest single day of fundraising for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous highest day for donations was September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Due to this surge, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. Comparatively, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform launched in late 2019, has garnered around $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue noted on social media that many donors mentioned making their first donations in the past day, highlighting the influx of new small-dollar contributors.
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors shortly after his announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe to support the eventual Democratic nominee.
Evercore’s founder Roger Altman expressed his belief that Harris’s campaign will be well-funded and announced his support for her candidacy. Notable Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also pledged their backing to Harris.
In previous fundraising efforts, Biden experienced significant boosts after televised debates, particularly after being defeated by Trump on June 27, when his campaign raised approximately $28 million. Following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million. In contrast, Trump and his associated groups raised $69 million in the immediate aftermath of his conviction, resulting in a temporary crash of his campaign website. An aligned super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., amassed $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, while groups supporting Trump collected $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.