Is Kamala Harris’ campaign $20 million in debt? What we know

Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign ended the 2024 White House race with “at least $20 million in debt,” according to Christopher Cadelago, Politico’s California bureau chief.

Cadelago made the claim on X, formerly Twitter, noting that Harris’ team had “$118 million in the bank” as of October 16.

Donald Trump was elected to the White House for the second time. The Associated Press (AP) reported that as of 5:30 a.m. ET Thursday, he had received 295 Electoral College votes, 25 more than he needed to win. According to the AP, Trump is also ahead in the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona, which together have 17 Electoral College votes. He is also on track to win the popular vote.

In Wednesday’s post, Cadelago wrote: “Kamala Harris’ campaign ended with at least $20 million in debt, according to two sources familiar with it. Harris raised over $1 billion and had $118 million in the bank as of October 16.”

Newsweek has not independently confirmed that it has debts of around $20 million. The Harris-Walz campaign was contacted for comment by email outside of regular office hours on Thursday.

The claim was repeated on X by Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle, who quoted an anonymous “Kamala campaign staffer.”

Breitbart News Network’s Washington bureau chief wrote: “The $20 million debt thing is real.” [The Harris campaign’s deputy campaign manager] Rob Flaherty, this employee said, is currently scouring the Kamala fundraising email list to try to get the money back. This also includes other campaigns and outside groups.”

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Harris’ official campaign had received $1,009 million as of October 16, even when it was Joe Biden’s campaign before the incumbent president dropped out of the race in July. Around $890 million was spent during this time.

According to the FEC, the official Trump campaign raised $392 million and spent $345 million during the same period. Accordingly ForbesAs of October 16, the Harris campaign had $118 million in the bank, compared to $36.2 million for Trump.

According to AdImpact, a website that monitors ad costs and content, Democrats, including the official Harris campaign, spent $1.1 billion on broadcast advertising and related reservations.

Accordingly The New York TimesThe Harris campaign spent a “six-figure sum” to fly banners over four NFL games in October to reach male voters in swing states. The Guardian reported in November that it also spent “a reported $450,000 per day” displaying ads on the Las Vegas Sphere in the swing state of Nevada.

Ultimately, the message didn’t seem to hit the mark. In conversation with Newsweek, Mark Shanahan, an American political expert who teaches at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, said Harris “never really implemented” her economic message in the presidential campaign.

He said: “Once again, Democrats have underestimated Trump’s appeal. He turns politics into a soap opera and it keeps him on his toes far more than his MAGA supporters. With that, he conveyed simple messages: The economy is bad, and he can fix it. Fix it; and America’s problems start at its borders, and he can fix that too.

“Harris didn’t have enough time to introduce himself to America. She never really got her messaging clear on the economy, and the one area that we really thought would give her a boost, which was reproductive rights, really didn’t make the breakthrough that we expected with voters.

Harris gave a concession speech on Wednesday at Howard University in Washington DC, which she attended as a student. The vice president said Americans “must accept the election results,” adding, “Hear me when I say that the light of the American promise will always burn bright.”