DNC's Deficit Spending Continues as Trump Outraises the Party
DNC's Deficit Spending Continues as Trump Outraises the Party
(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic National Committee continued its deficit spending trend in May as the party works on building its infrastructure ahead of the general election against President Donald Trump.
The DNC raised $6.9 million in May and spent $7.3 million, according to its latest filing with the Federal Election Commission. Overall, the party has spent $3.3 million more than it’s raised in 2019.
Fundraising by the DNC lags far behind that of its GOP counterpart, which isn’t unusual for the party that doesn’t hold the White House. While Democratic donors are focused on the nomination contest, dividing their contributions among more than 20 candidates, the RNC and Trump’s re-election effort are operating as a single fundraising dynamo.
In the first five months, the DNC reported receipts of $35.4 million, which includes $3 million in loans, and total spending of $35.7 million. The party said it had $8.3 million in the bank and total debt, including loans and payments due to vendors, of $6 million.
That compares with fundraising of $76.4 million by the Republican National Committee and spending of $62.9 million. That spending, mostly on preparations for Trump’s campaign, is the largest outlay by the party for the first five months of any year -- including presidential election years. The party also said it has $37 million in the bank and no debt.
In addition to disclosing its May numbers, the DNC filed revisions of its three previous monthly reports to the FEC, showing about $715,000 more in additional contributions over its original reports.
The Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee that supports the DNC and state parties, raised $1.1 million in May from three donors.
The RNC benefits from Trump Victory and Trump Make America Great Again, two joint fundraising committees that also support Trump’s campaign. On Wednesday, the party announced that Trump raised $24.8 million in less than 24 hours around the formal launch of his re-election campaign, mostly through those committees. That figure dwarfed the first-day hauls by the Democratic hopefuls.
Biden’s First Day
Among Democratic candidates, former Vice President Joe Biden had the best first day after announcing a presidential bid at $6.3 million, followed by former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke with $6.1 million and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders with $5.9 million. From January through March, the 16 Democrats who’d officially started their presidential campaigns collectively raised $77 million, or $3 million more than Trump’s campaign and the RNC combined.
The DNC is trying to bolster its fundraising. The party is sending fundraising pitches from its presidential candidates to its vast donor list and splitting the contributions, which gives the campaigns another set of donors to solicit and allows the party to cash in on the crowded field. It’s also brought in Chris Korge, a longtime Democratic bundler, to take over the party’s fundraising operation in May.
The money that the national party committees raise early in an election cycle funds preparations for the general election. The DNC has plans to train 1,000 organizers this summer and is also beefing up the data it uses to identify its voters.
The RNC has said it’s in the process of training more than 4,400 neighborhood organizers and volunteers at 250 events to help get out the vote in the general election, and it’s spending early in states Trump will need to win to get a second term.
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