In January, President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party raised a substantial $42 million for his presidential campaign, demonstrating the unwavering support of the party’s donor class despite concerns about his reelection bid. The campaign ended the month with a record-breaking $130 million on hand, the largest sum amassed by a Democratic presidential candidate at this stage in the campaign cycle.
Outpacing former President Donald Trump and the Republican primary field in fundraising, the Biden campaign and Democrats have so far raised nearly $278 million since April through high dollar events and grassroots pushes. January marked the campaign’s most successful fundraising month with small dollar donors.
The fundraising announcement comes as Biden prepares for a potentially lucrative three-day fundraising tour through California, expected to raise as much as $10 million. This West Coast push comes shortly after special counsel Robert Hur’s report brought Biden’s age and memory into the spotlight of the 2024 campaign.
Despite some donors expressing deep concerns about the challenges Biden faces in the coming months, there is a near-universal acknowledgement that the opportunity for a Democratic alternative has long since passed. Biden, despite his struggles, is seen as the bulwark against another Trump presidency.
The campaign’s fundraising success follows a steady buildup of the campaign’s war chest, including raising $97 million in the fourth fundraising quarter of last year. With the 2024 election year in full swing, the campaign and Democratic National Committee are now required to report their fundraising totals on a monthly basis.
The campaign has also disclosed its January figures for its joint fundraising committees, which can continue to file reports on a quarterly basis. The campaign is setting its sights on Trump, who they believe has all but secured the GOP nomination.
“While Team Biden-Harris continues to build on its fundraising machine, Republicans are divided – either spending money fighting Donald Trump, or spending money in support of Donald Trump’s extreme and losing agenda,” said campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez.
Biden spent little time on the road fundraising in January, attending only two campaign receptions in Florida at the end of the month. One Miami event hosted by Chris Korge, the national finance chair of the Biden Victory Fund, raised more than $6.2 million.
Trump has at times proven to be a motivating factor for Biden’s grassroots donors. The campaign raised more than $1 million in the 24 hours after Biden lambasted his predecessor as a direct threat to democracy in a speech near Valley Forge in Pennsylvania.
The campaign is also looking at how it can boost fundraising in the months ahead. An email sent in first lady Dr. Jill Biden’s name criticizing the special counsel’s report this month was the campaign’s most lucrative fundraising email besides the president’s campaign launch in April.
In private fundraisers where longtime Democratic donors are able to see and hear Biden at close range, most walk away believing firmly in his capabilities and fitness for another term. Still, the physical and verbal signs that often lend Biden a sense of frailty – the stiff gait, persistent throat-clearing – sometimes shine through.
One Biden donor admitted there was worry within the ranks that many issues facing the president — his age, but also disagreements over his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas — could be calcifying. “There is concern and worrying, but that is what Democrats do,” the donor said. “There is also recognition that Biden is the man who is running, and we need to do whatever we can to help him beat Trump.”
Another donor who’s seen Biden in recent weeks noted while much focus is on the president’s age, Trump is only a few years younger, adding, “I think real people say I would take the old guy who’s a pretty good president, rather than the old guy who wants to overturn democracy.”