Hillary Clinton Campaign Exceeds Clinton’s Own Net Worth: Campaign Spent Almost $50 Million In August
The Hillary Clinton campaign continued to raise its spending in August, hitting a new high of $49.6 million. When it comes to money in the bank, it’s now believed that the Clinton campaign has exceeded its own candidate’s personal wealth, in one of the most expensive presidential campaigns to date. Across the 2016 presidential cycle, Clinton has proven herself a stellar fundraiser, which has given her campaign plenty of money to play with, especially in comparison to Donald Trump’s campaign.
According to Politico, despite spending nearly $50 million in August, the Clinton campaign still started September with $68 million in the bank. Those figures come from the campaign’s latest report to the Federal Election Commission, which it now makes on a monthly basis.
Clinton also appears to be improving her performance when it comes to small donations. Around 31 percent of that overall total came from contributions of $200 or less, proving that Clinton is able to utilise the micro-donation model demonstrated by her Democratic primary opponent Bernie Sanders. That being said, the Clinton campaign still relies on cash from big scale donors, using August to hold some pretty big-dollar fundraisers in posh vacation spots across the country.
How @HillaryClinton’s very bad September could be very good for her in November https://t.co/308J9UeFLv | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/yikbw1q90X
— POLITICO (@politico) September 21, 2016
In total, the Clinton campaign reported that it raised $143 million in August, an improvement from the month before. They also reported that finances came from a number of channels, including the Hillary Victory Committee, which was set up by the Democratic National Committee and state parties as a joint fundraising vehicle between the campaign and the party. That victory committee is said to have raised $39 million for the Clinton campaign in August, which is counted toward that aforementioned overall total.
According to the Daily Mail, the largest portion of the Clinton campaign’s spending is still being pumped into advertising. GMMB, the campaign’s media buyer took a total of $32.7 million in August in order to continue funding Clinton’s heavy reliance on primetime advertising. Meanwhile, the 789 staffers employed by the campaign cost $3.3 million, including the share taken by many senior strategists. Also worth noting is the $1.3 million that the campaign paid to various polling firms across the month, including Benenson Strategy Group and David Binder Research.
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Perhaps the most interesting inclusion in the campaign’s most recent finance report is payments handed to the campaign’s outside law firm, Perkins Coie. As is typical of any presidential campaign, the Clinton campaign retains a law firm for legal advice throughout the election. Clinton paid $105,000 to that law firm in July, however, that’s drastically increased over the past few months, with the campaign paying $420,000 to the same law firm in September. However, a campaign source claimed the law firm bills several months at once.
Whilst Hillary Clinton’s campaign is busy shelling out more cash than typical candidates, the story couldn’t be much more different for her Republican rival Donald Trump. According to CNBC, Donald Trump’s spending spiked in September, however, it still looked frugal in comparison to Hillary Clinton.
Donald Trump's son has sparked a row after comparing refugees to Skittles. Is it fair to be judged for what your children do? pic.twitter.com/HN5GhpeIy4
— LBC (@LBC) September 21, 2016
The Republican presidential candidate reported total spending of $29.9 million, which whilst considerably less than Hillary Clinton, is still higher than the $18.5 million reported spending in July. Despite the closing proximity of November’s election, the Trump campaign still appears to be frugal with its cash, refusing to splash out on advertising campaigns like Clinton and still maintaining a pretty slim payroll. That’s considered to be something of a surprise considering Donald Trump is undeniably the richest candidate to ever run for the presidency.
[Featured Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]
