Democrats Bet on Technology Instead of Paying Down Debts
The Democratic National Committee is entering this campaign season with millions of dollars in debt, gambling that money spent now on technology and organizing efforts will outweigh the burdens of red ink. The DNC had more than $15 million in debt and less than $7 million in cash as of the end of February. While both parties have racked up debts, especially just before an election, experts say it is unusual for the party that holds the White House to carry debt so long into the next election cycle.
Adding to Democratic angst is that some donors are contributing to Organizing for Action, the issue-advocacy group that emerged from President Barack Obama's campaign, instead of to the DNC. Some Democrats say OFA is diverting funds from the party at a time when it is struggling to defend its Senate majority in the fall elections.
The DNC emerged from the 2012 elections with $22 million in debt but its hold on the White House and Senate intact. Since then, the DNC has erased $7 million in debt. Party officials declined to say whether the remaining creditors would be paid before the November midterms... While the DNC ended February in debt, the Republican National Committee had more than $10 million cash on hand and no debt. The DNC debt also contrasts with past midterm election cycles. Neither party was in the red at this point in 2006 or 2010.
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Through February, the RNC outpaced the Democratic committee in fundraising this election cycle, $95.6 million to $78.9 million, according to reports. For now, DNC officials said the party is paying down its debt while investing in programs that will bolster Democratic efforts in the midterms and the next presidential election.
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For example, the committee is working to give candidates the kind of data-analysis and voter-outreach tools employed by the Obama campaign, said Michael Czin, national press secretary for the DNC. The party also has launched what it calls a voter-expansion project aimed at fighting laws it views as barriers to voting, such as voter-ID laws. Mr. Czin wouldn't say how much the party is spending on the efforts.
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OFA, a nonprofit group that was created to support the president's agenda, doesn't endorse candidates but rather focuses on issues, such as an immigration overhaul and raising the minimum wage. The organization has emerged as a fundraising force, collecting $26.3 million last year. OFA relies largely on small-dollar contributions. Most of the group's large-dollar donors continue to contribute to the DNC. But when the president's re-election campaign reorganized as OFA last year, a number of Democratic donors curtailed their giving to the party while still writing checks to OFA.
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