Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats garnered $100 million in donations through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee serving Democratic groups, reported that the total was raised within a two-day span, according to a live tracker created by Ryan Murphy at The Marshall Project. While the figure is unofficial and relies on ActBlue’s own comprehensive tally of donations since its inception in 2004, it offers insights into the fundraising power of the party in the weeks leading up to standard financial disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. This figure marked the most significant single-day fundraising effort for the 2024 election cycle on ActBlue. The previous record was set on September 30, 2020, when Biden and Trump faced off in their first presidential debate.
Thanks to the fundraising burst on Sunday, ActBlue eclipsed $14 billion in total funds raised since its establishment two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican equivalent launched in late 2019, has accumulated around $4.3 billion in donations, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue highlighted the surge in grassroots support, stating, “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!”
In addition to grassroots efforts, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, gained $150 million in new commitments from major donors shortly after Biden’s announcement and his endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, a group supporting the future Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 within the same 24-hour period.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, indicated that Harris’s campaign is expected to be “very well financed” and expressed his support for her candidacy. Notable Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also backed Harris.
Previously, Biden’s most lucrative fundraising days were following a televised debate defeat to Trump on June 27, where his campaign raised approximately $28 million over two days. Moreover, Biden secured $19.2 million in the aftermath of Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. In contrast, Trump and his supporting groups amassed $69 million between his conviction date, May 30, and the following day, with Trump’s campaign website temporarily crashing due to the influx of donations. An affiliated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised an additional $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations collected $332.4 million, while pro-Trump entities raised $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in hand compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.