Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats raised an impressive $100 million from donors through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic groups, noted this substantial figure over a two-day period, as tracked by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While the figure is not officially confirmed, it offers a glimpse into the organization’s fundraising success ahead of upcoming disclosure requirements.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the highest single-day fundraising total for the 2024 election cycle on ActBlue. The previous second-best day for donations occurred on September 30, 2020, during Biden and Trump’s first presidential debate, according to Murphy’s tracker.
As a result of the surge in donations, ActBlue has surpassed a total of $14 billion raised since its inception 20 years ago. In contrast, WinRed, a Republican fundraising counterpart established in late 2019, has garnered approximately $4.3 billion, as reported by OpenSecrets.
ActBlue expressed enthusiasm on social media, stating they received many first-time donations in the previous 24 hours, highlighting the growing grassroots support for the party.
In addition, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors shortly after Biden’s announcement and his endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which supports the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, commented that Harris’s campaign would be “very well financed” and indicated his support for her candidacy. Prominent Democratic donors George and Alex Soros have also expressed their support for Harris.
Previously, Biden experienced significant fundraising success after being challenged by Trump during a televised debate on June 27, where his campaign raised around $28 million in the following days. Additionally, he raised $19.2 million after Trump faced felony convictions, which led to an influx of funds for Trump’s campaign, briefly overwhelming its website.
Between April and June, groups supporting Biden raised $332.4 million, while those backing Trump collected $431.2 million. As of late June, Biden had $281 million available compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.