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Donations have flooded into the Democratic party in the hours since Joe Biden announced that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race and Kamala Harris vowed to step up to seek the nomination.
In what has been called “the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle”, liberal political action committee ActBlue announced on Sunday night that it had raked in $46.7m in funds as of 9pm ET – around seven hours after Biden’s announcement.
“UPDATE: As of 9pm ET, grassroots supporters have raised $46.7 million through ActBlue following Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launch,” the PAC said in a statement.
“This has been the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle. Small-dollar donors are fired up and ready to take on this election.”
The resurgence in donations comes after several of the party’s top donors had pulled funding in recent weeks as they, together with Democratic lawmakers, called on Biden to quit the race following his disastrous debate performance last month.
On Sunday, Biden finally bowed to the pressure, sharing a letter to the American people on X saying that “while it has been my intention to seek re-election, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
The president then endorsed Harris, who said in a statement that she plans to “earn and win” the Democratic nomination and vowed to do “everything in my power” to beat Donald Trump.
Donations began pouring in instantly, with ActBlue confirming it had raised more than $27.5m within the first five hours of Harris’ comfirming her presidential campaign.
Barely two hours later, it confirmed it had processed $46.7m in donations.
Democratic strategists and journalists later claimed that the money raised on the liberal political action committee had passed $60m within nine hours of the release of Biden’s statement. ActBlue had not issued a further update as of early Monday morning.
Major Democratic donor Reid Hoffman has also thrown his support behind Harris.
Writing on X on Sunday, the venture capitalist and LinkedIn cofounder said he “wholeheartedly support [s]” her presidential bid, saying he believes the US will make the right decision between Harris and Trump.
The New York Times reported that online donations have also now surged past $50m, which has only ever previously happened the day after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg died in Septmber 2020, Democrat pollster and strategist Matt McDermott said on X earlier.
Biden’s official campaign website now redirects supporters to an ActBlue donations page.
While Harris is not officially the Democratic presidential candidate yet, the Biden-Harris campaign has already filed with the Federal Election Commission to rename its principal committee “Harris for President.” This move means Harris can tap into the campaign war chest.
Biden’s decision to step aside comes after 37 Democratic and Independent lawmakers publicly called for him to pass the torch to a different candidate, with pressure ramping up in recent days.
Several influential Democrats including Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer, reportedly also called on Biden to drop out in private.
