ActBlue raises almost $50M in donations after Kamala Harris announces campaign

ActBlue raised nearly $50 million in donations in the hours after Vice President Kamala Harris launched her presidential campaign .

"This has been the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle," said ActBlue, a nonprofit fundraising platform, in a tweet .

Seven hours after President Joe Biden announced he would drop from the presidential race and endorsed Harris , the nonprofit raised $46.7 million. The number includes the total amount donated to the nonprofit, not just to Harris' campaign.

Donors excited for the change

Excitement permeated the comments and the tweet announcing how much money was raised.

"Dems got a jolt of rejuvenation today," said one user on X , formerly known as Twitter. "It's what we've been waiting for."

"First thing I did when I stopped crying was to donate to Harris!" commented a different user.

Why is Harris running?

On Sunday, just before 2 p.m., Biden announced he would drop out of the 2024 presidential campaign and endorsed Harris.

This is the first time in 56 years that a standing president chose not to run for reelection. The last time it happened was in 1968, when President Lyndon Johnson announced he would not run for a second term amid controversy surrounding a growing political divide, the Vietnam War and falling approval ratings.

What is ActBlue?

ActBlue is a nonprofit fundraising platform that focuses on receiving donations from grassroots supporters and raises money for Democratic candidates and progressive organizations and nonprofits, according to its website .

Since 2004, it has raised over $14 billion.

Contributing: Chris Kenning , Darren Samuelsohn USA TODAY

Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. She has covered various topics, from local businesses and government in her hometown, Miami, to tech and pop culture. You can connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on X, formerly Twitter , Instagram and TikTok : @juliamariegz

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ActBlue raises almost $50M in donations after Kamala Harris announces campaign