By Tim Reid
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Democratic donors smashed fundraising records after the death on Friday of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, funneling more than $90 million to candidates and progressive groups in just over 24 hours.
As Democrats and Republicans braced for a nomination fight that has upended the November presidential election, the online fundraising organization ActBlue said grassroots donors gave $91.4 million to Democratic candidates and causes in the 28 hours after 8 p.m. Friday, around the time the news of Ginsburg’s death broke.
That figure, coming from 1.5 million donations, broke the all-time ActBlue records for dollars raised in one day and dollars raised in one hour, said Erin Hill, the non-profit’s executive director.
Donors gave $70.6 million on Saturday alone, and $6.3 million in one hour on Friday night, Hill said, beating the group’s previous records of $41.6 million in one day and $4.3 million in one hour.
The death of Ginsburg so close to the Nov. 3 election has energized both the Democratic base and Republican President Donald Trump’s core supporters. If Trump is able to install a conservative replacement for the liberal Ginsburg, the move would cement a 6-3 conservative majority on the court.
Much of the Democratic money will be poured into key Senate races, as the party seeks to retake control of the chamber in November, and also to pressure vulnerable Republican incumbents into opposing a move by Trump to install a new justice before the election.
(Reporting by Tim Reid; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
