Following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would not seek re-election, Democrats raised an impressive $100 million through their primary fundraising platform in just 48 hours.
ActBlue, a political action committee and fundraising platform for Democratic organizations, reported this figure via a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project. While this tally has not been officially verified, it is informed by ActBlue’s extensive tracking of donations since 2004, offering an early glimpse into their fundraising performance before formal disclosures are made.
On Sunday alone, contributions soared to $66.9 million in support of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, marking the highest single-day fundraising total in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. This surpassed the previous record set on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Thanks to this surge in donations, ActBlue reached a significant milestone of $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that started in late 2019, has garnered approximately $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue shared on social media that many of the contributors were first-time donors, emphasizing the growing grassroots movement. Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, reported securing $150 million in new commitments from major donors within a day of Biden’s announcement and Harris’s subsequent endorsement. Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, raised over $160,000 in the same time frame.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, indicated that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and expressed his support for her candidacy. Notable Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also thrown their support behind Harris.
In contrast, Biden’s past successful fundraising days occurred after he faced defeat by Trump during a debate on June 27, when his campaign raised around $28 million in the following days. Furthermore, Biden secured $19.2 million after Trump’s conviction on felony charges, while Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million within 24 hours following his conviction on May 30. During that month, Trump’s aligned super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., reportedly raised $70 million.
Between April and June, pro-Biden organizations raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump entities collected $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden reported having $281 million available, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.