The Democratic money machine is back in business.
Hours after President Joe Biden made the extraordinary decision to step aside in the presidential campaign and back Vice President Kamala Harris instead, large and small donors began digging back into their pockets.
ActBlue, the leading Democratic online donation processor, reported that donors gave $46.7 million in small-dollar donations through the platform for the day by 9 p.m. Eastern. It was already ActBlue’s biggest day of 2024 with hours left to go.
But that isn’t all. Much more is expected to flow in and is already being pledged by large-dollar donors, too.
“The floodgates will open,” Chris Korge, finance chair for the Biden Victory Fund, told NBC News. “There’s been a lot of people holding back contributions that will now contribute because the whole thing — that whole situation was paralyzing our fundraising.”
Korge said he was getting calls all day from major donors who were moved by Biden’s decision. Some even cried, he said.
“People are emotional because they knew how hard it was to make this decision after doing an incredible job,” Korge said. “Major donors are incredibly receptive of his endorsement and are genuinely excited. I think this is going to create a tidal wave of donations.”
On Sunday, ActBlue posted news of the money flow on its X account. Some of that money is going to other Democratic groups and campaigns, but Harris’ ascension was the catalyst — and her campaign was most likely the overwhelming beneficiary.
“Small-dollar donors raise over $27.5 million on ActBlue in the first 5 hours of Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign,” the post on X said. “Grassroots supporters are energized and excited to support her as the Democratic nominee.”
Hours later, ActBlue posted again to update that its daily total had ballooned to $46.7 million.
It’s among the biggest fundraising days ever for ActBlue. It announced this year that in the first quarter, donors gave over $460 million through the platform — a little over $5 million a day on average.
The development comes after weeks of catastrophic fundraising across Biden re-election efforts. Since the June 27 debate, big donors had cut off funding, saying they didn’t think Biden had a path. And it wasn’t just wealthy contributors: Grassroots funding had substantially diminished, too. Sources close to the campaign said that at the same time the campaign needed to scale up to take on former President Donald Trump, the spigot had shut off considerably, leaving them in an unenviable position.
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign, buoyed by enormous online fundraising hauls around his criminal conviction in New York in May, had suddenly taken the lead in terms of cash on hand. New filings through the end of June showed both Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee with more money in the bank than Biden and the Democratic National Committee.
Joe Cotchett, a San Francisco Bay Area Democratic bundler, said Sunday that donor sentiment immediately shifted after Biden’s announcement. Donors, he said, “are now ready to dig into their pockets.”
John Morgan, a Florida trial attorney and major Biden donor and fundraiser, said he believes there will be a near-term uptick in small-dollar donations. But he added that after Biden’s decision, he stepped down from the campaign’s national finance committee.
“You have to be enthusiastic to ask friends for money,” he told NBC News. “I was a Joe Biden Democrat before I was an independent.”
Democratic donor Gideon Stein, president of the Moriah Fund, had paused contributions to Biden because of concerns over his electability. But on Sunday, he said, “We will definitely resume our funding focus on the top of the ticket.”
Before his pause, Stein had planned donations of $3.5 million that were earmarked for nonprofit and political organizations tied to the race for the White House.
Justin Day, a prominent Florida Democratic fundraiser who is raising money this year for, among others, the Democratic Governors Association, said he thinks the change at the top of the ticket will get some Democratic donors off the sidelines.
“I have already heard from a number of donors who have not participated this cycle who have reached out to tell me they are all in, no matter who the nominee ultimately is,” said Day, who has been the Florida finance chair for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. “Focus has shifted back to beating Trump.”
Trump appeared to be unhappy that Republicans had spent money attacking Biden, a candidate who now no longer would be on the ticket in November. On his social media site, Truth Social, he essentially said he wanted his money back.
“So, we are forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden, he polls badly after having a terrible debate, and quits the race. Now we have to start all over again,” Trump wrote Sunday. “Shouldn’t the Republican Party be reimbursed for fraud in that everybody around Joe, including his doctors and the Fake News Media, knew he was not capable of running for, or being, President? Just askin’?”
