(Ken Silva, Headline USA) In the wake of Vice President Kamala Harris’s failed 2024 presidential election run, numerous observers expressed bewilderment at how her campaign could have spent a reported $1 billion in about 15 weeks.
But it turns out, that $1 billion estimate was incorrect. The Harris campaign actually spent $1.5 billion—or roughly $100 million per week, according to a Sunday report from the New York 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.
“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.”
The Times’s report detailed some of the expenditures that have already been reported, such as the $1 million payment to Oprah Winfrey’s production firm, Harpo Productions. Winfrey has claimed that the $1 million was to cover the costs of setting up the town hall with her, and the Times corroborated that claim, reporting that the full cost of her event was $2.5 million.
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.
“And for all the focus on her volunteer program, the campaign spent a significant sum — about $50 million — for paid door-to-door canvassers.”
Despite that, Harris was trounced by Trump. The Times noted that Harris’s performance could have been even worse if not for her $1.5 billion war chest.
“Even as Ms. Harris ran notably stronger in battlegrounds such as Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina than in surrounding areas, those results were double-edged, politically. They suggested that the ticket she led was so unpopular that it took an enormous campaign just to limit her losses,” the Times reported.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
