Democratic Donations Explode in Hours After Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Death, Shatter Fundraiser Records

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Donations to Democratic candidates exploded following news of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing, shattering several of ActBlue’s records.

According to The New York Times, donations through the site surged in the hours after the news of Justice Ginsburg’s death broke, and was sustained into the following day, topping $45 million by Saturday morning:

Democratic donors gave more money online in the 9 p.m. hour Friday after Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death was announced — $6.2 million — than in any other single hour since ActBlue, the donation-processing site, was started 16 years ago.

Then donors broke the site’s record again in the 10 p.m. hour when donors gave another $6.3 million — more than $100,000 per minute.

The unprecedented outpouring shows the power of a looming Supreme Court confirmation fight to motivate Democratic donors. The previous biggest hour, on Aug. 20, when Joseph R. Biden Jr. spoke on the final night of the Democratic convention, saw $4.3 million in donations processed, according to an ActBlue spokesperson.

Before noon on Saturday, donations to Democratic causes and campaigns on ActBlue since Justice Ginsburg’s passing had topped $45 million.

The flood of donations comes as President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans have vowed to push through a nominee to the Supreme Court before Election Day. In the entire month of August, when both candidates held their national conventions, Trump’s campaign raised $210 million and former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign raised $365 million.