(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Democrats had a strong election showing this month, winning the Virginia and New Jersey governor races, among others. But they had to go into debt to do it.
According to the New York Times, the Democratic National Committee took out a $15 million loan last month. It had a total of $18.3 million heading into the elections, including the loan.
By contrast, the Republican National Committee reportedly entered November with $91.2 million and no debts.
“Tapping a line of credit outside the crucible of a midterm or presidential election year is unusual for a major party committee, and it is the latest sign of financial distress for the official arm of the Democratic Party,” the Times reported Thursday.
However, the loan was apparently money well spent.
“The D.N.C. moved quickly to use the borrowed money, sending $3.2 million each to the New Jersey and Virginia governor’s races in recent months, as well as giving $175,000 to the Pennsylvania Democratic Party to mobilize voters before elections for the state’s Supreme Court. Democrats swept all those contests, and others across the nation,” the Times noted.
The Democrats also spent big in 2024, but performed far worse. The Kamala Harris presidential campaign spent $1.5 billion—or roughly $100 million per week, according to the Times.
“Her cash-rich campaign spared no expense as it hunted for voters—paying for an avalanche of advertising, social-media influencers, a for-hire door-knocking operation, thousands of staff, pricey rallies, a splashy Oprah town hall, celebrity concerts and even drone shows,” the Times reported last November.
“The frenzied spending has led to second-guessing among some Democrats, including whether investing in celebrity-fueled events with stars such as Lady Gaga and Beyoncé was more ostentatious than effective.”
One of the more surprising revelations from the Times report was Harris’s $12 million expenditure on polling, which was apparently necessary because incumbent President Joe Biden didn’t do any of that for her.
“Though Ms. Harris had been on the ticket from the start, her advisers discovered that the Biden operation had done virtually no research on her strengths and weaknesses,” the Times reported.
“Other major costs, according to records and campaign officials, included $111 million in online ads seeking donations, at least $100 million transferred to battleground-state parties, $70 million on mail and nearly $28 million to produce the merchandise that people were ordering,” the Times added.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
