Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not run for re-election, Democrats successfully raised $100 million from donors through their primary fundraising platform.
ActBlue, a political action committee and fundraising site for Democratic organizations, reported this figure over the last 48 hours, as per a live tracker established by Ryan Murphy, a developer at The Marshall Project. While the number is not official and relies on ActBlue’s own comprehensive donation tracker since 2004, it offers insight into the group’s fundraising performance ahead of any formal declarations.
On Sunday alone, donations reached $66.9 million to support Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign launch, which marked the highest fundraising day in the 2024 election cycle for ActBlue. The second-highest day historically for contributions occurred on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
This surge in donations enabled ActBlue to surpass $14 billion in total cash raised since its inception two decades ago. In comparison, WinRed, the Republican fundraising platform that began in late 2019, has accumulated around $4.3 billion, according to OpenSecrets.
ActBlue shared on social media Monday that many individuals reported making their first-ever donations in the past 24 hours, expressing excitement about the influx of new small-dollar donors joining the grassroots movement.
Additionally, Future Forward, a super PAC that supports Biden, received $150 million in new commitments from major contributors within a day of Biden’s announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, which has initiated a fund for the eventual Democratic nominee, also reported raising over $160,000 within the same timeframe.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, stated on Monday that Harris’s campaign is poised to be “very well financed” and voiced his support for her. Notable Democratic benefactors George and Alex Soros have also extended their support to Harris.
Previously, Biden experienced significant fundraising success immediately following his clear defeat by Trump in a televised debate on June 27, raising approximately $28 million between that day and June 28. He also garnered $19.2 million in the aftermath of Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. From May 30 to May 31, Trump and his affiliated groups raised $69 million, leading to a temporary crash of his campaign website. Meanwhile, Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC aligned with Trump, collected $70 million that month.
Between April and June, pro-Biden groups raised $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups amassed $431.2 million, as reported by The Financial Times. By the end of June, Biden had $281 million in available funds, compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.