Democratic donations reach unprecedented levels following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

In just the hour after the news broke of the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, $6.2 million in donations poured into ActBlue, a democratic fund-raising platform. 

This was the highest amount raised in an hour in the site’s 16 year existence.

Donors reached even deeper into their pockets during the next hour. Donations during the 10 p.m. hour garnered $6.3 million – more that $100,000 per minute. 

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As of noon on Saturday, donations on ActBlue for Democratic Causes and Campaigns surpassed $50 million.

According to the New York Times, before that, the largest fundraising hour was on Aug. 20, when presidential candidate Joe Biden spoke on the final night of the Democratic National Convention.  ActBlue says $4.3 million in donations were processed then. 

Just as Democrats are working to support efforts on the left, the right wing is also doing the same, including a push to fill Ginsburg seat as soon as possible. 

In 2016, after Justice Antonin Scalia‘s death Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed not to fill the vacancy so close to the presidential election. This time he says the scenario although similar require different responses. 

“In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term. We kept our promise,” McConnell said. 

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“By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promise.”

ActBlue says the company does not currently have information on where the majority of donations since Friday night were directed. 

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