Just a 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 focused on fundraising for Democratic entities, reported this amount over the course of the past two days via a tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While this figure is not official, as it is based on ActBlue’s comprehensive donation tracker established since 2004, it showcases the group’s fundraising outcomes ahead of required disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions soared to $66.9 million for the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the most successful fundraising day in the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The previous record was set during the presidential debate between Biden and Trump on September 30, 2020.
This surge in donations enabled ActBlue to surpass $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican equivalent launched in late 2019, has accumulated about $4.3 billion according to OpenSecrets data.
In a statement released on X, formerly known as Twitter, ActBlue noted, “We’ve seen so many folks saying they made their first ever donation in the last 24 hours! It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!”
Moreover, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and his subsequent endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, an initiative supporting the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, commented that Harris’s campaign is expected to be “very well financed” and has already received backing from prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros.
Previously, Biden experienced significant fundraising boosts following key events, including a televised debate defeat to Donald Trump on June 27, during which he and affiliated committees raised around $28 million. Furthermore, Biden raised $19.2 million in the days after Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts, while Trump’s campaign and alliances raised $69 million during the following day.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups amassed $431.2 million, as reported by The Financial Times. At the end of June, Biden had $281 million available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.