Just a day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million from donors through ActBlue, their primary fundraising platform. This significant amount was recorded over a two-day period, according to a live tracking tool maintained by Ryan Murphy from The Marshall Project. Although the figure is not officially confirmed—being based on ActBlue’s comprehensive tracking since 2004—it offers insight into the fundraising performance ahead of the necessary disclosures.
On Sunday alone, donors contributed $66.9 million to kick off Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, marking the largest fundraising day for the 2024 cycle for ActBlue. The second most profitable day for donations in recent times was reported on September 30, 2020, coinciding with the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
With the boost from Sunday’s donations, ActBlue reached a milestone of $14 billion in total funds raised since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that started in late 2019, has raised approximately $4.3 billion.
ActBlue noted the influx of new donors on social media, highlighting that many expressed making their very first donations in the past 24 hours, emphasizing the grassroots momentum. Simultaneously, Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, secured $150 million in new commitments from major donors following Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Additionally, Swing Left reported raising over $160,000 within the same 24-hour period to support the eventual Democratic nominee.
On Monday, Evercore founder Roger Altman stated that Harris’s campaign is expected to be “very well financed” and confirmed his backing. Notable Democratic donors, such as George and Alex Soros, have also shown their support for Harris.
Biden’s prior top fundraising days came shortly after his debate loss to Trump on June 27, when his campaign raised about $28 million within a 24-hour timeframe. Additionally, he garnered $19.2 million following Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts, whereas Trump’s campaign saw a massive influx of $69 million in the days following his conviction, which even caused a temporary crash of his campaign website. In the reporting period from April to June, pro-Biden groups collected $332.4 million, while pro-Trump factions raised $431.2 million. By the end of June, Biden held $281 million in available funds, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.