By Kendall White, Ryan King and Steven Nelson | New York Post
Democrats’ main fundraising committee is losing big donors and so cash-strapped that its officials have discussed borrowing money just to keep the lights on, with one source spilling to The Post that if things don’t turn around before the 2026 midterms, the party is “f–ked.”
“We are six months in and we’re drowning,” a source close to the Democratic National Committee told The Post about the current rate of contributions. “The RNC was so cash-heavy and hitting us day after day after day when Biden was president.”
“We have no clear path or plan,” they added. “The midterms are going to come before we know it, and then we’re going to be really f–ked.”
The DNC’s struggle to message against the Trump administration and rather public leadership infighting — including the recent departure of former DNC vice chair David Hogg — has also led some of its largest donors to taper off their contributions, the New York Times first reported.
This has dovetailed with high-profile donor defections, such as Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman, Jacob Helberg, and prominent former Democrats backing President Trump in the 2024 cycle.
The DNC has previously taken out a line of credit before, including twice under Tom Perez, who led the party machine from 2017 to 2021.
In response to the reported cash-borrowing discussions, DNC Chair Ken Martin told the Times, “That’s certainly not our plan right now,” adding, “I don’t know if we’ll have to at this point.”
A DNC spokesperson told The Post that the party apparatus doubled its fundraising for the first few months of 2025 relative to the first few months of 2017, during the wake of Democrats’ prior presidential loss.
The spox also claimed that the DNC raked in more grassroots cash in the first three months of Martin’s term than any other national Democratic Party chair in its history.
“It is incredible that [Martin] has not sought to bring all the factions of the party together. He assumed the chairmanship after being opposed by the Democratic leader of the House, the Democratic leader of the Senate, organized labor leaders and many of our country’s leading governors,” a DNC official told The Post.
“And so you would assume after he becomes chairman… he would try to bring all of the party officials together and unite the party. And he’s doing just the opposite.”
“It could have an impact on governors races, it could have an impact on the midterm elections. It’s totally unnecessary,” the official added. “Either he changes tactics and mends fences very quickly or he ceases to be relevant.”
The latest federal records show that by late April, the DNC’s war chest shrank to just under $18 million — approximately one quarter of the cash currently in the RNC’s coffers.
Party members complained to the Times that the newly installed Martin has been so preoccupied with navigating internal divisions and pursuing financial boondoggles in territories as remote as Guam that he’s been unable to lead the party effectively.
Since being elected DNC chair in February, Martin’s tenure has been dogged by controversy over Hogg’s decision to have his “Leaders We Deserve” group unleash $20 million to fund primary challenges against incumbent House Dems in safe blue districts.
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