Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million from contributors through ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that channels funds to Democratic initiatives, reported this figure over the past two days, according to a live tracker developed by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project. While this amount is not officially verified—being derived from ActBlue’s tracking of donations since 2004—it offers insight into the fundraising performance ahead of any mandatory disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 election cycle thus far for ActBlue. The previous significant day for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
Following this surge, ActBlue surpassed $14 billion in total funds raised since its establishment two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that started in late 2019, has collected approximately $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue highlighted that many first-time donors have stepped forward in the last 24 hours, sharing their excitement on X, formerly Twitter. “It’s so motivating to see new small-dollar donors join the grassroots movement!” the organization stated.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from prominent donors within 24 hours of his announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which has initiated a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Financial expert Roger Altman expressed confidence in the funding of Harris’s campaign, emphasizing its strong financial backing. Prominent Democratic donors like George and Alex Soros have also shown their support.
Previously, Biden experienced notable fundraising spikes immediately after a loss to Trump during a televised debate on June 27, raising about $28 million between that day and the following. Moreover, he collected $19.2 million in the wake of Trump’s conviction on 34 felony charges, while Trump and his affiliates raised $69 million from May 30 to May 31, causing a temporary crash of his campaign website. A related super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., garnered $70 million during that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump entities collected $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had a financial reserve of $281 million compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.