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WASHINGTON – On Sunday afternoon, President Joe Biden issued a press release to announce his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election. President Biden then immediately issued a separate statement endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic nominee for president. Since then, Harris has secured over $100 million in donations, making it the most successful fundraising period for any political candidate in US History.
“On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country,” the Vice President said in a statement on Sunday. “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
In addition to raising significant funding in a two-day window, Harris has received a plethora of endorsements, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
“My enthusiastic support for Kamala Harris for President is official, personal and political,” said Pelosi in a statement.
During a Tuesday press conference, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vocalized support for Harris. “We are here today to throw our support behind Vice President Kamala Harris,” said Schumer. “She is able to energetically and emphatically lead America into the future,” Jeffries added.
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Democratic delegates, who are responsible for selecting their party’s nominee, have also lined up behind Harris. As of Monday night, she has garnered enough delegate support to officially become the Democratic nominee.
Harris’ Fundraising Significance
For any candidate, monetary donations are necessary to cover day-to-day campaign affairs. Everything from candidate merchandise to informational pamphlets is important when attempting to raise public interest in a political hopeful.
Presidential candidates are especially in need of stable funding in order to keep the campaign in operation. Those who secure their party’s nomination typically travel to swing states where they need to garner as much interest as possible. Millions of dollars are funneled into candidates every election cycle. In 2020, per-party spending broke records when Democrats funneled over $3 billion into their candidates.
The rate at which Harris has raised funds stands out in comparison to Biden’s 2024 campaign donations. Between January 2021 and April 2024, Biden received nearly $195 million from donors. Similarly, from November 2022 through April 2024, former President Donald Trump raised $124 million.
Major party candidates are eligible to receive a general election grant. However, this inflation-adjusted grant comes with terms and conditions. Those who accept the grant are not allowed to raise funds privately from individuals, PACs or party committees and must only use the funding for campaign costs.
Following Sunday’s announcement, a coalition of Black women leaders known as Win With Black Women hosted a Zoom teleconference with 44,00 participants. In the three hours that the call took place, the group was able to raise over $1.2 million for Harris’ campaign.
ActBlue, a fundraising platform for Democratic candidates, shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) stating that Sunday, July 21, was their biggest fundraising day of the 2024 election cycle.