Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats gathered $100 million from donors through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee that supports Democratic initiatives, documented this significant fundraising accomplishment over a two-day period, according to a live tracker managed by Ryan Murphy of The Marshall Project. While the figure is unofficial, it offers insight into the fundraising activities of the group ahead of any mandatory disclosures.
On Sunday alone, contributors added $66.9 million to the newly launched presidential campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, marking the largest single-day fundraising effort for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous record for a single-day fundraising event was during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump on September 30, 2020.
With the boost in donations, ActBlue has raised a total of $14 billion since its inception two decades ago. In contrast, its Republican counterpart WinRed, which was established in late 2019, has collected approximately $4.3 billion.
ActBlue commented on social media that many individuals reported making their inaugural donations in the hours following Biden’s announcement, expressing excitement over the influx of new small-dollar donors to the grassroots effort.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, received $150 million in new commitments within 24 hours following his announcement and endorsement of Harris, according to reports from Politico. Swing Left, which has initiated a fund to support the eventual Democratic nominee, disclosed it raised over $160,000 in the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in Harris’s campaign, stating it will be well-funded and announced his support. Notable Democratic benefactors, such as George and Alex Soros, have also shown their support for Harris.
Historically, Biden has experienced notable fundraising spikes following defeats in debates. For instance, Biden raised about $28 million between June 27 and June 28 after a challenging debate against Trump. Following Trump’s indictment on 34 felony counts, Biden garnered $19.2 million in the days that followed, while Trump and his affiliates raised $69 million in a single day after his conviction.
From April to June, pro-Biden organizations amassed $332.4 million, whereas pro-Trump groups accrued $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in funds available, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.