Soft Fundraising, Waste Leaves RNC $25M in Hole

The Republican National Committee is deep in the hole—the organizing body will enter the 2012 election cycle between $20 million and $25 million dollars in debt, the Washington Times reports. That's possibly the biggest running deficit a national committee has had going into a major election, says one operative. And while Republican fundraising may be somewhat limp—about 25% off its targets for the year—financial documents reveal mismanagement to be at the heart of the RNC's woes.

Between January and September, the RNC received $82 million in donations, but spent $51 million raising that money. "Through September of this year, the RNC spent only $12.1 million on political operations," the RNC treasurer said. "An additional $20 million would have gone a long ways in winning more races in 2010." Steele has blamed a Democratic administration and lessened GOP enthusiasm for fundraising that totaled $179 million this year—a far cry from the $408 million raised by the GOP in 2008.
(More RNC stories.)