A growing Democrat donor revolt is hitting the Democratic National Committee (DNC), as top funders refuse to bankroll events and lash out over the party’s lack of direction and poor leadership. According to a Wall Street Journal report, several major donors turned down requests to host a San Francisco fundraiser featuring former Vice President Kamala Harris—one even sending a “profanity-laced rejection.”
“At one point earlier this year, the DNC reached out to big donors to host a San Francisco-area fundraiser headlined by former Vice President Kamala Harris. Most of the donors rejected the request,” the Journal reported. Those who declined cited frustration over the party’s inability to “produce substantive plans to win elections.”
The backlash comes amid mounting financial woes. The DNC holds just $12 million in cash reserves—compared to the Republican National Committee’s $86 million—and continues to lag behind in every major fundraising metric. A Politico report described the committee as “rudderless, off message and leaderless.”
Tensions under chairman Ken Martin have grown, with one member calling him “weak and whiny” and another saying he’s been “invisible.” Infighting intensified after the DNC ousted former vice chair David Hogg, who sought to fund primary challenges against “ineffective, asleep-at-the-wheel” incumbents.
Democratic megadonor Rachel Pritzker expressed dismay at the party’s inertia. “It is shocking how little reassessment the party and its leadership has done,” she told the Journal.
As the Democrat donor revolt widens, the party faces both financial instability and a deepening internal divide heading into next year’s midterms.
