Hillary Clinton’s Promised ‘Down-ballot Fundraiser’ Leaves Little Money for State Democrats

Days before Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton launched an unprecedented big-money fundraising vehicle with state parties last summer, she vowed “to rebuild our party from the ground up,” proclaiming that “when our state parties are strong, we win. That’s what will happen.”

But despite her promise, less than one percent of $61 million raised by her “Victory Fund” remained available to state parties, a Politico investigation found.

Kenneth Vogel and Isaac Arnsdorf reported Monday:

The venture, the Hillary Victory Fund, is a so-called joint fundraising committee comprised of Clinton’s presidential campaign, the Democratic National Committee and 32 state party committees. The setup allows Clinton to solicit checks of $350,000 or more from her super-rich supporters at extravagant fundraisers including a dinner at George Clooney’s house and a concert at Radio City Music Hall featuring Katy Perry and Elton John.

The victory fund has transferred $3.8 million to the state parties, but almost all of that cash ($3.3 million, or 88 percent) was quickly transferred to the DNC, usually within a day or two, by the Clinton staffer who controls the committee, POLITICO’s analysis of the FEC records found.

By contrast, the victory fund has transferred $15.4 million to Clinton’s campaign and $5.7 million to the DNC, which will work closely with Clinton’s campaign if and when she becomes the party’s nominee. And most of the $23.3 million spent directly by the victory fund has gone toward expenses that appear to have directly benefited Clinton’s campaign, including $2.8 million for “salary and overhead” and $8.6 million for web advertising that mostly looks indistinguishable from Clinton campaign ads and that has helped Clinton build a network of small donors who will be critical in a general election expected to cost each side well in excess of $1 billion.

The arrangement has sparked concerns among campaign finance watchdogs and allies of Clinton’s Democratic rival Bernie Sanders. They see it as a circumvention of campaign contribution limits by a national party apparatus intent on doing whatever it takes to help Clinton defeat Sanders during the party’s primary, and then win the White House.

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A statement made the day of Politico’s report by Bernie Sanders’ campaign contrasted Clinton’s down-ballot fundraising efforts with his:

Sanders last month raised money for three progressive Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives. Unlike the Hillary Victory Fund, every dollar went directly to helping the candidates. The senator has also raised significant sums for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.