Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, the Democratic Party raised $100 million through its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue.
ActBlue, a political action committee and fundraising tool for Democratic entities, reported this impressive total over a span of two days, according to a tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. While this amount is not officially confirmed, it reflects the group’s fundraising performance before any mandated disclosures are submitted.
On Sunday alone, contributions reached $66.9 million following the launch of Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the most successful fundraising day in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The previous peak occurred on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
This substantial influx of donations brought ActBlue’s total fundraising efforts to $14 billion since its inception 20 years ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican counterpart that started in late 2019, has raised around $4.3 billion to date.
ActBlue commented on the significant increase in donations, noting that many new contributors were making their inaugural donations in the past day. This enthusiasm for grassroots support was evident in their statement on X, formerly Twitter.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors within 24 hours of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which initiated a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, reported raising more than $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated that Harris’s campaign is set to be “very well financed” and expressed his support for her candidacy. Notable Democratic donors such as George and Alex Soros have also shown their backing for Harris.
Previously, Biden’s most successful fundraising days followed a televised debate defeat to Donald Trump on June 27, which garnered about $28 million in contributions over two days. Following Trump’s indictment on 34 felony counts, Biden raised $19.2 million shortly after, whereas Trump and his affiliates raised $69 million in the days following his conviction.
From April to June, pro-Biden factions amassed $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups gathered $431.2 million, according to The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden reported having $281 million available, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.