Just one day after President Joe Biden announced that he would not seek re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million from contributors through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, which serves as a political action committee and fundraising hub for Democratic organizations, recorded this significant amount over a span of two days, as revealed by Ryan Murphy, a developer with The Marshall Project who maintains a live tracker. Although these figures are not official and are based on ActBlue’s own extensive tracking of donations since 2004, they offer insight into the group’s fundraising capabilities ahead of required disclosures.
On Sunday alone, supporters contributed $66.9 million to the inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking it the most successful fundraising day for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous peak occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump, according to Murphy’s tracker.
Thanks to the boost in donations received on Sunday, ActBlue has now reached a total of $14 billion raised since its launch two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform established in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue highlighted the surge in new donors, stating on X, formerly Twitter, “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!”
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC supportive of Biden, has reportedly secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which initiated a fund to back the eventual Democratic nominee, revealed it gathered over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, remarked on Monday that Harris’s campaign will be “very well financed” and expressed his support for her candidacy. Notable Democratic benefactors, George and Alex Soros, have also thrown their support behind Harris.
Historically, Biden’s best fundraising days have typically occurred in reaction to significant events involving Trump. For instance, following a televised debate on June 27, where Biden faced a loss to Trump, Biden and his committees raised approximately $28 million in the following days. Additionally, Biden garnered $19.2 million after Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts, while Trump and his aligned organizations raised $69 million within a day of his conviction on May 30. Notably, the influx of donations at that time briefly overwhelmed Trump’s campaign website. The associated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that same month.
Between April and June, groups backing Biden raised a total of $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump entities amassed $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden’s available funds totaled $281 million, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.