Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million from donors through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee and fundraising tool for Democratic organizations, reported this figure over the past two days via a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy at The Marshall Project. While the amount isn’t officially verified, it gives an insight into the fundraising momentum ahead of any mandated disclosures.
On Sunday alone, supporters donated $66.9 million to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, marking the highest single-day fundraising total in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous record was set on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
The spike in contributions this Sunday helped ActBlue reach a significant milestone, achieving $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, WinRed, its Republican counterpart established in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue commented on social media about the surge in donations, noting many first-time donors joined in support of the grassroots initiative.
Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, garnered $150 million in new commitments from prominent donors within 24 hours following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which began a fund in support of the Democratic nominee, also reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, stating it would be “very well financed.” Prominent megadonors, including George and Alex Soros, have also pledged their support to her.
Historically, Biden’s previous fundraising highs occurred following significant events, including a televised debate defeat against Donald Trump in June, which raised about $28 million in just over a day. Following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, Biden’s fundraising efforts brought in $19.2 million, while Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million during the same period, temporarily crashing his campaign website. In total, between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump entities captured $431.2 million, with Biden holding $281 million by the end of June compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.