Good question. Maybe the inflation of the Biden Regency has impacted the prices of political campaigns?
Of course, Republicans don’t seem to have the same issues with donors as Democrats. Nor do they have the same leftover bills that Kamala Harris left the DNC, either.
DNC chair Ken Martin paints the move to tap credit as a sign of investment, but the New York Times doesn’t quite buy it:
The Democratic National Committee took out a $15 million loan last month to replenish its shrunken coffers before elections in Virginia and New Jersey and to keep operations fully funded entering 2026, according to party officials and documents reviewed by The New York Times.
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 D.N.C. entered November with $18.3 million on hand — $15 million of which came from the loan.
By contrast, the Republican National Committee entered November with $91.2 million in the bank and no debts.
I put this in the Final Word last night, but it’s worth a deeper look. Had it not been for this loan, it appears that the DNC would have been entirely tapped out a week before the elections in New Jersey, Virginia, and New York City. The money struggles have continued all year, as Breitbart noted at the time that Martin attempted to reverse the drain:
Democrat National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin is trying to rally the troops after his party’s major losses in 2024 while grappling with the fact the committee is strapped for cash.
Turmoil and pressure have been growing as some influential leaders within the group have stepped down, the Hill reported on Sunday.
Founder and Executive Director of Defend the Vote Brian Lemek, who is also a Democrat strategist, said, “Ken Martin is stepping into a really difficult situation right now, and I would say he was elected and they handed him a mop and a bucket.”
The news also comes amid reports of infighting within the Democrat Party as it lacks clear leadership. It is also important to note the DNC recently voted to remove gun control activist David Hogg as vice chair, per Breitbart News.
If anything, matters have grown worse. One reason for this is that the DNC is still paying down Harris’ campaign debt from last year, as I wrote about last month. Martin and the DNC had paid $20 million already as of the end of September. Separately, the DNC claimed they had finished September with $15.2 million cash-on-hand. That means the DNC burned a net $12 million in October, and nearly tapped out. Three months earlier, Martin had claimed that the DNC was “breaking grassroots fundraising records,” but if that’s the case, why would the DNC need a loan?
Politico asked Martin to explain, but the answer was less than specific:
“We can’t win elections or fight back against Trump if the D.N.C. downsizes operations like it often does after a presidential cycle,” Martin said in a statement. “I made a bet that investing early would build power, rack up wins and rally supporters back to the table. That bet is paying off.” …
The DNC also spent $16.9 million in October, the most it has spent in any single month this year. Driving that total was election-related spending: The national party spent over $6 million in New Jersey and Virginia to boost Democratic gubernatorial candidates, along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in Pennsylvania to help retain control of the state’s Supreme Court.
Democrats won all those races.
True. However, all those races took place in blue jurisdictions too, with the arguable exception of Pennsylvania, which is purple at best these days in statewide races. These also took place in an off-year cycle, an environment which usually rewards better-organized campaigns. Martin’s spending in October helped boost that organizing, but the problem Democrats will face is that the spending and the lack of donor success in 2025 will likely mean fewer organizing resources in 2026, especially if the Mamdani movement delivers on its threats to primary dozens of Democrat incumbents in the House and Senate.
Martin has a few months to fix the income issue for the DNC before this becomes a critical problem for the midterms. If they’re taking out loans now, though, perhaps the problem may already have hit the critical stage. And given that Martin had to take out the loan during their Schumer Shutdown Fundraiser just to avoid overdrawing their accounts, I suspect that Martin’s fundraising woes will only get worse from here.
Editor’s Note: After more than 40 days of screwing Americans, a few Dems have finally caved. The Schumer Shutdown was never about principle—just inflicting pain for political points. They own this.
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