Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats successfully raised $100 million from donors through ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform. Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project, reported this figure based on a live tracker maintained by ActBlue, although the total is not officially verified until later disclosures are made.
On Sunday alone, a remarkable $66.9 million was raised to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the most significant fundraising day of the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. This surpassed the previous high on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump, according to Murphy’s tracker.
This impressive influx of donations has helped ActBlue surpass $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican fundraising counterpart established in late 2019, has accumulated about $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue noted on X, formerly Twitter, that numerous individuals reported making their first-ever donations in the past day, highlighting the excitement surrounding new small-dollar contributors joining the grassroots effort.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in commitments from major donors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and his endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which has launched a fund for the eventual Democratic nominee, revealed it raised over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, stating it would be “very well financed” and confirmed his support. Notable Democratic donors, including George and Alex Soros, have also endorsed Harris.
Biden’s previous fundraising peaks were noted after his defeat by Donald Trump during a televised debate on June 27, when he and his committees raised approximately $28 million from that day until June 28. Additionally, Biden garnered $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. In contrast, Trump and his affiliates raised $69 million from May 30 to May 31, including significant support that temporarily crashed his campaign website. During the period between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million while pro-Trump groups collected $431.2 million, with Biden holding $281 million compared to Trump’s $336.2 million by the end of June.