Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million from donors through its primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee and fundraising platform for Democratic organizations, saw this influx of donations over the previous two days, as reported by Ryan Murphy, a developer with The Marshall Project. While the tally is unofficial and based on ActBlue’s extensive donation tracker, it offers insights into the group’s fundraising performance ahead of upcoming required disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributors donated $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, making it the largest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The previous top single-day fundraising record was set on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
With the donations received on Sunday, ActBlue surpassed a significant milestone, raising a total of $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican equivalent that started in late 2019, has accumulated approximately $4.3 billion in donations since it began.
ActBlue celebrated the strong fundraising activity, noting an influx of first-time donors in the past 24 hours, expressing excitement about the growing grassroots movement.
In addition, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, gathered $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left reported raising over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated that Harris’s campaign is likely to be “very well financed” and confirmed his support for her candidacy. Prominent Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, also expressed their backing for Harris.
Historically, Biden has seen notable fundraising spikes following significant political events. After his defeat by Trump during a televised debate on June 27, Biden and his committees raised about $28 million in the ensuing days. He also drew $19.2 million in the wake of Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, while Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million immediately following the verdict, leading to a temporary crash of his campaign website. An associated super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., raised an impressive $70 million that month.
Between April and June, groups supporting Biden garnered $332.4 million, whereas those supporting Trump raised $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in hand, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.