Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats raised $100 million from donors through their primary fundraising platform, ActBlue. This impressive sum was collected in just two days, as tracked by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project. Although the figures are unofficial and drawn from ActBlue’s extensive donation records dating back to 2004, they offer a glimpse into the fundraising dynamics ahead of the required disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million as Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign, marking the largest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. Previously, the second-highest day for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
The surge in donations allowed ActBlue to surpass $14 billion raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, the fundraising platform for Republicans established in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue noted an influx of first-time donors, expressing excitement about the grassroots support emerging from the recent fundraising activity. Following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris, Future Forward, a Biden-aligned super PAC, garnered $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours. Additionally, Swing Left, which aims to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated on Monday that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and expressed his support. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also thrown their backing behind her.
Biden’s previous top fundraising days occurred shortly after he faced defeat against former president Donald Trump during a debate. Biden and his affiliated committees raised approximately $28 million between June 27 and June 28. He also raised $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, while Trump and his affiliates collected $69 million within the days after the conviction, briefly overwhelming Trump’s campaign website. Additionally, the super PAC aligned with Trump, Make America Great Again Inc., raised $70 million that month.
From April to June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups accumulated $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in available funds, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.