With the latest FEC filings from the Republican National Committee indicating they have just $9.1 million cash on hand — compared to the DNC's $17.7 million — another concern is raised as to whether or the Republican Party can pull off a victory in 2024.
Committee members cite several issues ranging from voter apathy after the lackluster GOP performance in last year's midterm elections to the fine line that the GOP and RNC have to walk in order to keep both Donald Trump supporters and detractors from walking away from the party, for the crisis.
“It’s a revenue problem,” Tennessee RNC member Oscar Brock said. “We’re going through the same efforts we always go through to raise money: the same donor meetings, retreats, digital advertising, direct mail. But the return is much lower this year. If you know the answer, I’d love to know it. The staff has managed to tighten down on expenses to keep the party from going into the red.”
However, the RNC is not the only party committee that is seeing a downtrend in donors, with the DNC also seeing a lower donor turnout for their national committee as well. Both parties are blaming the same thing: inflation and donor fatigue. The DNC has been where the RNC is now as well, with the DNC having about the same amount of cash on hand during some of the Trump presidency.
The difference between the two parties, however, is that the Democrat Party was never publicly fractured as Republicans are today. The opinion of some GOP insiders is that the chasm can open wide enough to cause Trump to leave the party and run as an independent and/or cause both supporters and detractors of Trump to leave the party in general.
When asked about the current financial state of the RNC, Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was not overly concerned, stating that after the dust settles after the primaries, donors will return to the RNC.
“I think there’s more donors just fully committed to their candidate right now, saying I am all in, and once the nominee is set, I’ll be there. That’s what I hear more than anything. And they’re really solidly in the camps of their candidate, which is normal,” McDaniel said. “There’s nothing unusual about this, because they know that once their candidate gets in that we will merge and that we’ll be working together to win the White House.”
However, when it comes to money on hand and spending, the RNC under McDaniel has shown a very different side. During her tenure, as our Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar exclusively reported nearly a year ago, the RNC spent money with reckless abandon on very, very important things — things like limousines, private jets, floral arrangements, and nothing is more important than alcohol, right?
Our review found that the amounts spent during the 2021-22 election cycle seem to have been par for the course and possibly even lower than previous portions of McDaniel’s tenure. According to FEC filings, since 2017, the RNC has spent:
- $3.1 million on private jet services
- $1.3 million on limousine/chauffeur services
- $17.1 million on donor mementos
- $750,000 on floral arrangements
- $80,000 in alcohol-related expenditures
Nearly $400,000 has been spent on event tickets and other entertainment activities, including $30,000 for a private box at a Las Vegas Raiders game, $13,000 for Broadway shows, $9,400 at Madison Square Garden, and $43,000 at Top Golf locations in Texas, Nevada, Virginia, and Maryland.
According to a senior staffer, the private box Raiders game was part of a retreat for senior staff members. RNC funds were also used to fly the senior staffers and their plus-ones first-class to Las Vegas, and for their hotel rooms, food, and alcohol, the staffer says.
McDaniel's failure to deliver anticipated results is likely another reason donors are refusing to donate to the national committee, choosing to donate directly to their candidates of choice. In fact, even the state parties are seeing a reduction in donorship as well.
Since her rise to the top seat in the Republican Party, McDaniel has had a rough time, to say the least. Her tenure as Chair of the RNC has been an overall and abject failure, as she oversaw repeated Republican election losses in 2018, 2020, 2022, and now 2023. Republicans across the country are being outspent, undersupported, and, in several cases, left to fend for themselves amid a Democratic fundraising and support machine that outperformed and crushed the RNC's efforts to do the same.
Furthermore, McDaniel falsely asserted that RNC donations to state candidates were never needed in Virginia this year. McDaniel claimed that Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin's team assured her that no donations or other funding were required. However, Youngkin is not the chair of the Virginia GOP, and Townhall's own Larry O'Connor was able to confirm with Virginia GOP Chair Rich Anderson that a request for funds was made to McDaniel but was denied.
NEW DEVELOPMENT JUST NOW ON WMAL@RichAndersonRPV, Chair of the Virginia GOP, had a different story than Ronna McDaniel's claim.
— L A R R Y (@LarryOConnor) November 10, 2023
He says he requested financial assistance from @GOP for this week's elections and they were denied.
Maybe @GOPChairwoman Ronna McDaniel was told… https://t.co/Z8My1svFwS
With the combination of out-of-control spending, a lack of donors, and a general and growing mistrust of Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, it looks like the RNC is in more trouble than she claims. And with the general election in 2024 coming less than a year from now, the concerns regarding her leadership abilities, or lack thereof, are causing more and more Republicans to hold onto their money at the very least. If the trends don't start to go in a different direction, the GOP will see disaster in 2024. There is a lot of work that needs to be done between now and November 5th, 2024. The question is: Will it get done in time?
