Headline Roundup • November 11th, 2024
How Did the Harris Campaign Spend Its $1 Billion?
2024 Presidential Election,Kamala Harris,Politics,Fundraising,Donald Trump,Advertising,Harris Campaign
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Vice President Kamala Harris raised $1 billion in just three months going into the 2024 presidential election, but how did she spend it?
For Context: On October 9, The New York Times (Lean Left bias) reported Harris had raised over $1 billion since entering the race on July 22. At the same time, since the beginning of 2024, Trump had raised around $853 million. After losing the election, Christopher Cadelago of Politico (Lean Left bias) reported that Harris was at least $20 million in debt.
Ad Spending: According to the ad-tracking company AdImpact, Harris spent over $654.6 million on ads from July 22 through Election Day, while Trump spent $378.9 million on ads during the same period.
Payroll: Harris’ payroll and taxes accounted for $56.6 million, while Trump's campaign reported spending $9 million on the same.
Controversial Spends: The Washington Examiner (Lean Right bias) highlighted that Harris spent $15 million on “event production,” which included performances from Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, $1 million Oprah Winfrey’s production company, and over $100,000 to build a podcast set for Harris’ appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast. It also spent $12.8 million on digital media consultants.
Democratic Frustrations: The New Republic (Left bias) highlighted previously reported frustrations from Democratic officials. A former DNC consultant said, “We spent money in stupid ways because we had a really bad strategy.” A Biden staffer told Axios (Lean Left bias), “How did you spend $1 billion and not win? What the f***?”
How the Media Covered It: Progressive outlets reported retrospectively on Harris's campaign spending, while most mainstream Lean Left outlets didn't.
Featured Coverage of this Story
Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Kamala Harris raised more than $1 billion for her presidential campaign … which ultimately failed. In the afterglow of stunning defeat, some Democrats are now asking how she could have possibly spent anywhere near that much money and still lost her shot at the White House.
The Harris campaign finished out the race with at least $20 million in debt, two sources familiar told Politico’s Christopher Cadelago, who wrote on X Wednesday night that of the $1 billion Harris had raised, only $118 million remained in cash as of October 16.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
She took in more than $1.2 billion in contributions. Her donors numbered in the millions, including many new to the political process. But in the end, it didn’t matter.
Vice President Kamala Harris lost her bid for the White House on Wednesday despite spending most of the funds on an expansive ground operation, staffing and a flood of ads. President-elect Donald Trump won a second term with half of what Harris’s campaign spent.
Harris’s fundraising dominance, which her campaign had touted, wasn’t enough to overcome political headwinds, including shifts in demographic support and an economic malaise that left much...
AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
In October, weeks before the 2024 election, the word was out: Vice President Kamala Harris had fundraised north of $1 billion. The haul, the New York Times reported upon breaking the news, was historic because of the short period of time, just three months, that it flooded in.
It was ultimately no use. On Tuesday, Donald Trump made history and became only the second former president to win a nonconsecutive term. After surviving two assassination attempts on the campaign trail, Trump dominated Harris in battleground states to emerge as the president-elect. And he did so with far less...
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