Kamala Harris raised more than $1 billion in her failed presidential campaign—and ended it $20 million in debt.
WASHINGTON FREE BEACON -- Scrutiny of that spending has largely focused on pricey private jet travel and six- and seven-figure payments for interviews to friendly outlets like Al Sharpton's National Action Network and Oprah’s Harpo Productions.
But the lion's share of the campaign's spending didn't go there. It went to well-connected media consulting firms, four of which raked in nearly $600 million, according to a Free Beacon review of Federal Election Commission records. Those four firms, our Andrew Kerr reports, have "deep ties to the Democratic establishment."
Here's a rundown:
MEDIA BUYING & ANALYTICS — The little-known Atlanta-based firm received a staggering $281 million in Harris campaign payments for ad production and placement. While it doesn't have a website and uses a UPS store as a mailing address, FCC filings link it to Canal Partners Media, "a well-connected ad agency that has worked in presidential elections dating back to 1988" and counts Joe Biden, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Amy Klobuchar as clients.
GAMBIT STRATEGIES — Founded in 2021, Gambit Strategies brought in $122 million from the Harris campaign for media services. Founding partner Megan Clasen "was a senior paid media adviser to Biden's 2020 campaign" and "led digital advertising efforts for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign." Clasen also managed J.B. Pritzker's digital advertising efforts in 2018, meaning the firm could be poised for another payday should the billionaire Illinois governor run for president in 2028.
BULLY PULPIT INTERACTIVE — A prominent Democratic firm founded by veterans of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, Bully Pulpit Interactive spearheaded the Biden campaign's paid partnerships with social media influencers in 2020. The Harris campaign tried to replicate that strategy, "spending millions of dollars on social media influencers to boost her campaign with young voters." Trump won a larger proportion of young voters than any Republican presidential candidate since 2008.
DUPONT CIRCLE STRATEGIES — Like Media Buying & Analytics, Dupont Circle Strategies largely operates from the shadows and does not have a website. Public records, however, indicate that the firm "could share ties with Chong and Koster, a D.C.-based Democratic consulting firm also known as C Plus K" that has worked extensively with the DNC since 2016.