Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats secured $100 million in donations through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that facilitates fundraising for Democratic organizations, reported this figure over the past two days, based on a tracker managed by Ryan Murphy at The Marshall Project. While this amount is not officially verified, it offers insight into the fundraising efforts leading up to required disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions amounted to $66.9 million for the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, representing the highest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. This surpassed previous records, including a notable fundraising day on September 30, 2020, during the first Biden-Trump debate.
The recent influx of donations propelled ActBlue’s total raised to $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform established in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue noted that many donors reported making their first contributions recently, indicating strong grassroots support. Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Biden, reportedly received $150 million in commitments from major donors shortly after Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left stated it raised more than $160,000 in just 24 hours.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign financing, affirming his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also shown their backing for Harris.
Historically, Biden experienced significant fundraising boosts following major campaign events, such as after debates against Trump. Recent reports indicated that Biden raised $19.2 million after Trump was convicted on 34 felony charges, while Trump’s campaign saw a surge of $69 million from his conviction to the following day.
Between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups collected $431.2 million. By June’s end, Biden had $281 million available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.