ADVERTISEMENT

The DNC Has More Debt Than Cash On Hand

Republicans label DNC 'dead broke'

Debbie Wasserman Schultz / AP
October 22, 2015

The Democratic National Committee's current debts outweigh the amount of cash it has on hand by more than $1.2 million, according to the group's Wednesday filing with the Federal Election Committee.

The filing revealed that the DNC currently owes $6.7 million in debts and obligations that it cannot cover with the $5.5 million worth of cash it has on hand.

The debts include a $2 million loan that it still has not paid back to Amalgamated Bank, which is a labor union-owned bank that serves as the primary bank of the DNC and often gives it large loans.

The loan that is still owed was taken in the weeks before the 2014 midterm elections, in which the Democrats failed to maintain control in the Senate and Republicans gained a bigger majority in the House.

Making problems worse for the DNC is that its Republican counterpart is not experiencing the same fundraising problems. The RNC's filing reveals that it has $19.4 million in cash on hand and only $1.8 million in debt.

The lopsided fundraising advantage has the RNC using the words of likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to mock its rival, writing in a memo that the DNC is "dead broke."

"One cannot overstate the gravity of the problem this creates for embattled front runner Hillary Clinton, who will finally know what it means to be ‘dead broke’ when she completes her takeover of the DNC," wrote RNC chief of staff Katie Walsh.

The DNC's $1.2 million shortfall is the latest problem for chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D., Fla.).

It was revealed last year that Schultz is seen as incompetent by many in the party and that she was almost replaced after the 2012 election. She became the target of the President Barack Obama's White House, which labeled her to the press as a "liability" that cares more about her "own political ambitions than helping Democrats win."

The RNC memo makes clear that they think they will have the advantage over the DNC going into 2016.

"It would be foolhardy to assume the DNC’s dire financial state is permanent, but there is no denying Democrats will enter 2016 with a distinct organizational and financial disadvantage," said Walsh. "While the DNC worries about making payroll and keeping the lights on, we’ll continue moving forward with the most ambitious get-out-the-vote operation the Republican Party has ever built."

--

UPDATE 4:05 p.m: This article previously stated that the $2 million loan from Amalgamated Bank was in addition to the DNC's $6.7 million in debts.