*Some Democrats are urging Vice President Kamala Harris to halt her fundraising efforts, following reports that her campaign raised $1.4 billion but concluded with a $20 million debt.
We reported earlier that following Harris’ loss in the 2024 presidential race to Donald Trump, there are claims of mismanagement within her campaign, despite raising over $1 billion. By mid-October, the campaign had spent more than $900 million, according to the Federal Election Commission, Newsweek reports. Critics within the Democratic Party, including Lindy Li from the DNC finance committee, have called the campaign a “disaster” and suggested it ended with around $20 million in debt.
Reports indicate that a significant portion of the funds was spent on advertisements and celebrity appearances at rallies. Harris’s campaign is also said to have spent $551 million on digital and TV advertisements.
Last month it was reported that donations to Harris’ presidential campaign were being partially redirected to fund a vote recount effort. The fine print on her campaign’s ActBlue fundraising platform suggested that the VP might launch a recount effort. It read: “The first $41,300/$15,000 from a person/multicandidate committee (“PAC”) will be allocated to the DNC. The next $3,300/$5,000 from a person/PAC will be allocated to Harris for President’s Recount Account.”
Per The Independent, some of the latest emails to supporters state: “Even a quick donation of $50 is enough to help us in this fight” and “And with only hours left to hit our goal today, NOW is the best time to rush your support.”
Here’s more from the outlet:
It’s not uncommon for presidential candidates to end their campaigns in debt. Hillary Clinton ended her 2008 campaign with $25m in debt and Barack Obama ended his 2012 campaign with $6.8m. The debts were settled in 2013 and 2018 respectively.”
Harris’s campaign is attempting to raise funds for costs associated with ending the presidential bid, like maintaining staff, closing offices and ensuring financial reports are in compliance, the outlet reported.
Democratic watchers worry that Harris could be destroying relationships with donors by asking them to give her money after she raised millions within the first week of her campaign, eventually bringing in more than $1bn.
“I understand that the Harris campaign is in a very difficult position with the debt that they have, and so sometimes you just have to make practical decisions,” Mike Nellis, founder of the Democratic digital firm Authentic, told Politico. “But yeah, I think that stuff like that erodes trust.”
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