Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press Wire
Democratic donors unleashed a pent-up flood of cash into the barely established campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris with more than $100 million gushing into Democratic campaign coffers from small grassroots donors since the news of Biden’s departure broke. At least $81 million was raised in the first 24 hours of her campaign and major donors quickly pledged another $150 million to a Democratic super-PAC that initially had been set up to back Biden and is now focused on Harris.
Late Monday, the Harris campaign confirmed that they had raised $81 million and said this adds to the $240 million they already have in the bank, inherited from Biden’s fundraising efforts.
But it’s not just Harris who is benefitting from the donations. ActBlue, the third-party processor of most Democratic campaign donations of less than $200—the grassroots level of supporters—has a live ticker on their website reporting real-time donations. One website that tracks the ticker found that Sunday was ActBlue’s biggest fundraising date of all time. According to the tracker, more than $66.9 million is being funneled through the site. This haul barely surpasses the single highest day of donations from four years ago when Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. By late afternoon on Monday, just about 24 hours from when momentum suddenly began to shift towards Harris, an additional $38 million had been raised from Democratic donors. Assuming that ActBlue’s take includes the $81 million that went to Harris’ campaign, it would appear that Democratic donors are giving heavily to other candidates as well.
While the sum is paltry compared to how much is likely to be sent by the end of the campaign—a figure that may be well into the billions—it is an extraordinary show of grassroots enthusiasm at a time when little or no polling is available to assess how Harris’ sudden elevation to party favorite is viewed by the base.
The numbers compare favorably to Trump’s fundraising juggernaut. His campaign has had enormous surges in small-dollar donations several times this spring, but most notably following his conviction on 39 felony charges back in May. On that day alone, Trump’s campaign raised $53 million. Those donations helped Trump surge past Biden in fundraising totals—it won’t be clear if Harris will take the lead once the dust settles from her entrance into the race.
Harris also received welcome news from big donors—wealthy Democratic supporters who are financing outside groups like super-PACs. The pro-Harris super-PAC Future Forward said it had received $150 million in pledges since Biden quit the race. Of course, pledges are not the same as actual donations, but Trump also has been hauling in major pledges lately, including a promise by Elon Musk to donate $45 million per month to a pro-Trump super PAC.
The recent announcement from the pro-Harris super-PAC is also significant because the Democratic Party’s wealthiest donors had made it clear they would stop funding Biden following his disastrous debate performance last month. The renewed pledges to donate likely are a welcome relief to Harris, showing donors won’t stand in the way as she consolidates her nomination.
