Kamala Harris pushes donors to do more after raising more than $1 billion in election defeat – National
Kamala Harris and the of the Democratic Party A prodigious fundraising operation raised more than a billion dollars in its loss for Donald Trumpbut the vice president continues to push donors for more money after the election.
Democrats are making persistent appeals to Harris supporters without specifically asking them to cover possible debts, instead luring potential donors with other topics: the Republican president-elect’s choices for his next administration and a handful of congressional elections in where votes are still in progress. account.
“The Harris campaign certainly spent more than they raised and now they’re busy trying to raise money,” said Adrian Hemond, a Democratic strategist in Michigan. He said the campaign asked him, after his loss to Trump, to help with fundraising.
The party floods Harris’ lucrative email donor list with near-daily calls aimed at small donors — those whose contributions are measured in hundreds of dollars or less. But Hemond said the post-election effort also included individual appeals to larger donors.
The rush now underscores the expense involved in a losing effort and the immediate challenges Democrats face as they try to maintain a grassroots political operation to counter the Trump administration and prepare for the 2026 midterm elections. also questions how Democrats have used their resources, including hosting events with musicians and other celebrities, as well as running ads in a variety of non-traditional spaces such as the Las Vegas dome.
Internally, it’s the apparent cash shortage that’s being blamed for the campaign’s decision to stop paying many senior staff starting Saturday, even those who initially said they would be paid until the end of the year. Faced with internal frustration, the campaign informed those affected in recent days that their health insurance would be covered until the end of the year, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation who spoke under the guise of anonymity to share internal discussions.
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Another person familiar with the fundraising effort and the Democratic National Committee’s finances said the Harris campaign’s expected deficit is a relatively small sum compared to the scale of the campaign, which reported having $119 million. dollars in cash in mid-October before the November 5 election. . This person was not authorized to publicly discuss campaign finances and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Patrick Stauffer, finance director of the Harris campaign, said in a statement that “there were no outstanding debts or past due bills” on Election Day and that there would be “no debts” listed either for the campaign nor for the DNC in their upcoming financial disclosures. , which must be presented to the Federal Election Commission in December.
The person familiar with the campaign and DNC finances said it was impossible to know exactly where Harris’ record currently stands. The campaign still receives invoices from vendors for events and other services near the end of the race. The campaign also has exceptional revenues; for example, media organizations that must pay for their employees’ seats aboard Air Force Two when traveling for the vice president’s campaign activities.
Hours after Trump chose Florida Republican Matt Gaetz as attorney general on Wednesday, Harris supporters received a call for more money for the “Harris Fight Fund,” citing Trump’s emerging team and its agenda.
Gaetz, who resigned his House seat after the announcement, “will strong-arm the Justice Department to protect itself,” the email said. He said Democrats “must stop them from carrying out Trump’s plans for revenge and retaliation” and noted that “even his Republican allies are shocked by this” Cabinet choice.
Another call followed Friday on Harris’ behalf.
“The light of America’s promise will shine as long as we continue to fight,” the email said, adding that “there are still a number of critical races across the country that are either too close to be announced, either with a margin of recount or certainty”. legal challenges.
The emails do not mention Harris’ campaign or her finances.
The Harris Fight Fund is a post-election label for the Harris Victory Fund, which is the joint fundraising operation of the Harris campaign, the DNC and state Democratic parties. Despite the language used in recent appeals, most contributions from grassroots donors would be funneled to the national party, unless a donor takes the time to contact the DNC directly and the money goes directly to Harris or a state party.
The fine print at the bottom of the solicitation explains that an individual’s first $41,300 and a political action committee’s first $15,000 would be allocated to the DNC. The next $3,300 from an individual or $5,000 from a PAC would go to the Harris “recount account” for president. Anything above that threshold, up to maximum contribution limits of hundreds of thousands of dollars, would be distributed among state parties.
Officials with the DNC, which is expected to see a leadership change early next year, indicated that the party did not intend to fill a deficit for Harris, but could not explicitly rule out that the party would transfer money in the countryside.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
