Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign is setting a record, albeit one with questionable electoral benefits for Harris.
Harris’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) are offloading nearly $25 million dollars to down-ballot races across the country in “an earlier investment and far more money than the top of the ticket has sent in past election years,” Politico reported.
The unprecedented reallocation comes as Harris’s campaign goes on defense after failing to achieve a post-convention bump taken for granted by most modern campaigns. Harris and her top surrogates were dispatched to blue states this week, where former President Donald Trump continues to show unexpected strength.
The down-ballot spending also follows a terrible week capped by the campaign’s trashing of 13 Gold Star families — an attack that blew up spectacularly.
Despite the campaign’s framing, the spending is highly unusual. According to Politico:
The transfers to support down-ballot races are notable both for their timing and large amounts. In 2020, the DNC transferred $5 million to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and $1 million to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee [DSCC] in mid-October, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. Earlier money gives the committees more spending options, as common campaign tactics such as hiring staff, taping ads or printing mailers take time.
In a statement, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), chair of the DSCC, said the funds will “help Senate Democrats reach more voters, increase the strength of our campaigns and ensure Democrats protect our Senate majority.”
Of course, it isn’t just the timing, but the amount, with this cycle’s reallocation of nearly $25 million dwarfing 2020’s investment.
At the time of President Joe Biden’s exit from the campaign, reports suggested not only had donors begun withholding funds for the campaign but they believed a change at the top of the ticket was necessary to minimize down-ballot losses for Democrats.
Harris’s fundraising rush after her coronation reflect not only the unprecedented timing of her appointment atop the ticket but also the breaking of the Biden bottleneck that had slowed Democrat fundraising to a drip.
Yet this week’s massive reallocation suggests Harris might also lack the ability to motivate voters in down-ballot races.
While campaigns ultimately concentrate on the current cycle, party operatives generally invest resources with an eye towards future cycles as well, building networks and party machinery to last beyond the current slate of races.
Harris puzzled many pundits the prior week by devoting multiple days in Georgia, with some speculating she was dispatched to the Deep South state to boost party building work already underway.
Taken together, the campaign’s recent actions and public polling suggest Democrats might be searching for a new approach to this year’s races across the board.
Despite the investment in the Senate, the map is unfavorable for Democrats. Republican challengers Bernie Moreno and Tim Sheehy are running strong races against red-state Democrat Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jon Tester (D-MT). Flipping those two seats alone would give the next Republican leader control of the Senate. Additionally, Dave McCormick is running a strong race in purple Pennsylvania against Democrat Sen. Bob Casey.
Republican challengers in several other states are polling better than expected — even in blue states — and Trump’s steady rise in the polls this year could carry along others on his coattails.
Even if Democrats were to write off Harris and concentrate on down-ballot tickets, there might not be enough money to move around.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
