Just one day after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, Democrats managed to raise $100 million through its primary fundraising platform, ActBlue. According to a live tracker maintained by Ryan Murphy at The Marshall Project, this fundraising milestone was set within just 48 hours of Biden’s announcement. Although the tally does not represent official figures, it showcases significant donor enthusiasm leading up to disclosure deadlines.
On Sunday alone, there was an impressive $66.9 million contribution to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, making it the highest single-day fundraising total for ActBlue in the 2024 election cycle. The previous high was recorded on September 30, 2020, during the first presidential debate between Biden and Trump.
This surge pushed ActBlue’s total contributions since its inception two decades ago to $14 billion. In comparison, WinRed, a platform for Republican fundraising that started in late 2019, has generated around $4.3 billion, based on data from OpenSecrets.
ActBlue noted a notable increase in first-time donors contributing in the last 24 hours, emphasizing the grassroots movement’s momentum. Additional support for Harris’s campaign arrived in the form of $150 million in commitments from large donors through Future Forward, a super PAC aligned with Biden, shortly after his announcement and endorsement of Harris. Swing Left, an organization backing the upcoming Democratic nominee, reported raising over $160,000 within the same time frame.
Roger Altman, founder of Evercore, expressed confidence in the financial backing of Harris’s campaign, also highlighting support from prominent Democratic donors like George and Alex Soros. Previously, Biden experienced fundraising spikes following significant events, such as during a debate loss to Trump on June 27, when he raised approximately $28 million in just two days. Following Trump’s conviction on multiple felony counts, Biden garnered $19.2 million soon thereafter. In contrast, Trump raised $69 million within 48 hours of his conviction, leading to temporary website issues due to the influx of donors.
Between April and June, pro-Biden groups collected $332.4 million, while pro-Trump groups amassed $431.2 million. As of the end of June, Biden held $281 million in funds compared to Trump’s $336.2 million.