Kamala Harris’ dramatic entry into the presidential race triggered a record day of donations for Democrats, who raised a total of $81 million in the 24 hours after Joe Biden handed over the baton.
Over 880,000 individual donors contributed to the record sum, the Harris campaign said in a press release on Monday afternoon. About 60% of those donors were making their first donations to any 2024 presidential campaign.
Harris raised $64 million in just the first 12 hours after Biden's announcement on Sunday afternoon, according to Democratic strategist Kenneth Pennington. In their best hour over the past day, the vice president's campaign raised about $11.5 million, The New York Times reported.
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Former President Donald Trump, who was confirmed as the Republican nominee for president last week, raised almost $53 million in the 24 hours after his felony conviction in May. The former president’s campaign later went on raise a record $141 million over the course of the same month.
With donors hesitating over the uncertainty surrounding the president’s health, Trump’s White House war chest had recently overtaken his Democratic rival. Now Biden’s decision to stand down and endorse Harris appears to have opened the floodgates for Democratic grass roots donors.
Soon after the president’s announcement, Democratic political action committee ActBlue said it hit a milestone of $14 billion raised since the donation platform’s launch 20 years ago.
By 7 a.m. Eastern time on Monday morning, a ticker showing real time donations on ActBlue’s website surged by more than $64 million after what it called the “biggest fund-raising day of the 2024 cycle.”
“This may be the greatest fundraising moment in Democratic Party history,” Democratic strategist Kenneth Pennington wrote on X.
He posted later: “Democrats have raised $63 million today on ActBlue. Looks on path to exceed $90 million by the 24-hour mark from Joe Biden’s decision.”
Earlier, Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign, said in a statement: “Since the president endorsed Vice President Harris yesterday afternoon, everyday Americans have given $49.6 million in grassroots donations to her campaign.”
Biden’s deputy digital director, Clarke Humphrey, tweeted: “and just like that! 4-5pm this evening just became our best fundraising hour ~ever over at Team Joe. obviously this is a huge day for the campaign w Kamala Harris joining the team and i think it's only a sign of all the great things to come!”
The tally is made up of smaller donors, and Democratic fund raisers have reported other boosters, including a group called Win With Black Women that raised $1.5 million in a 100-minute Zoom meeting attended by more than 45,000 supporters from around the country.
According to The New York Times, Trump’s main fundraising site online took six months to raise $58 million in second half of 2023. These figures, and the donations made following the former president’s conviction for falsifying business records, were announced by his campaign.
The final first day donor figures for Democrats since Biden’s announcement have not yet been verified by the Harris campaign and have yet to be filed with the Federal Election Commission. They are also a total of donations to all Democratic candidates rather than just to Harris, but, announcing the grassroots surge on its X account, ActBlue said: “Small donors are fired up and ready to take on this election.”
The 2024 campaign has officially changed its name with the Federal Election Commission to “Harris for President,” and the $96 million remaining in Biden’s election coffers will now switch into his vice president’s name.
With the boost in grassroots support, Harris is reportedly now seeking to consolidate support among big money Democrat donors.
