After raising more than $1 billion, the Kamala Harris campaign is expected to end up with millions of dollars of debt once it’s done paying vendor invoices. The debt will likely get passed along to the Democratic National Committee and could burden the party as it works to rebuild after its catastrophic election season. 

President-elect Donald Trump is already scoring political points over the Democrats’ debt issues. Over the weekend, Trump wrote on Truth Social, “Whatever we can do to help them during this difficult period, I would strongly recommend we, as a Party and for the sake of desperately needed UNITY, do. We have a lot of money left over in that our biggest asset in the campaign was ‘Earned Media,’ and that doesn’t cost very much.”

You’ve probably heard already about some of the Harris campaign’s most outlandish splurges, like the $1 million it paid to the media company of surrogate Oprah Winfrey, or running ads on the Las Vegas Sphere, or spending six figures to build a set for the “Call Her Daddy” podcast while declining to appear for free on the Joe Rogan podcast. 

But these expenditures are peanuts compared to where the bulk of the billion-plus in spending went. With the campaign’s disproportionate dependence on paid media over the Trump campaign’s earned media strategy of podcast appearances and organic social interest, Democratic media consultants have been paid hundreds of millions by the Biden and Harris campaigns, money that is enriching the firms’ founders and partners through commissions. 

These Democratic consulting firms typically have their own revolving door ecosystem. They are often led by former Democratic Party officials or former staffers for Democratic elected officials who leverage their experience and connections to get a piece of the party’s election cycle spending splurges. 

Media Buying and Analytics LLC

The Harris campaign’s largest vendor was the creatively named Media Buying and Analytics LLC, a front company for the Canal Partners Media firm. 

Media Buying and Analytics LLC lists an Atlanta UPS store on its invoices that can be accessed through the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), and it is registered in the state of Georgia by what appears to be a law firm based out of a suburban office plaza. However, some FCC filings show the firms are linked and Canal Partners Media’s president confirmed the tie to Business Insider in 2020. 

Formed in May 2019, Media Buying and Analytics LLC has overseen more than $280 million in ad production and placement spending for the Harris campaign, and that total is expected to increase once Federal Election Commission disclosures covering the final phase of the campaign are filed. 

Canal Partners Media’s president is Bobby Khan, a former chief of staff for Georgia Governor Roy Barnes and former chair of the Georgia Democratic Party. Khan formed LUC Media in 1993, and his firm merged with Abar Hutton Media in 2013 to form Canal Partners. Abar Hutton Media was formed by Barbara Burr and Shelli Hutton, who remain with the firm as partner/buyers. 

In addition to its work for Democrats, Canal Partners works for businesses and trade associations, including work that directly counters Democratic policy objectives, which may explain why it conducted its Harris work through a shell company. In 2022, it worked for a Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) front group Rare Access Action Project to help it run ads opposing the Biden administration’s policy allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, reported journalist Andrew Perez. In 2017, it worked for Uber as the company was lobbying for permission to operate in western New York state, a policy that was opposed by unions. 

A review of nonprofit tax documents show that Canal Partners Media has been working in recent years for charter school groups Families for Excellent Schools Inc. and Success Academy Charter Schools, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York, and pharmaceutical industry group Association for Accessible Medicines. 

Gambit Strategies

The Washington, D.C.-based digital firm Gambit Strategies was paid $122 million for media protection and placement by the Harris and Biden campaigns, as of the middle of October. Founded in 2021, Gambit Strategies specializes in digital persuasion and mobilization, and does not work on fundraising. 

Gambit Partner Megan Clasen was a senior paid media advisor to President Biden’s 2020 campaign, and according to her bio she began her career in advertising working with brands including Samsung and AT&T, and then in 2015 joined Hillary for America’s digital advertising team. The firm’s other partner, Patrick McHugh, was previously the executive director for Biden’s chief outside group in the 2020 cycle, Priorities USA, including a super PAC, a dark money nonprofit, and a charitable foundation. Gambit was paid $17 million by Priorities USA Action during the 2022 midterm cycle, according to OpenSecrets, before the super PAC was relegated to a minor role in the 2024 cycle and replaced with Future Forward.

Bully Pulpit Interactive

Founded and led by Obama campaign veterans, Bully Pulpit Interactive (BPI) has been a leading Democratic consultancy and media firm in recent election cycles. As of mid-October, the company had received disbursements of over $101 million from the Harris and Biden campaigns. 

Bully Pulpit’s president is Andrew Bleeker, who was the lead digital marketing strategist for Obama’s campaigns and for Biden’s campaign in 2020. The firm has multiple partners, including Kim Axelrod, former Boeing spokesperson Bradley Ahubuiro, and Danny Franklin, whose bio says his work at BPI has served McDonald's, JPMorgan Chase, Blackstone, General Mills, and other companies. 

In addition to the Harris campaign, Bully Pulpit worked this cycle for several dark money groups in the Harris orbit, including Future Forward USA and Climate Power. A review of Snapchat data shows the firm’s political advertising this cycle focused on swing state users and targeted demographics like “Beauty Mavens,” “Clubbery & Party People,” “Reality TV Fans,” and “Battle Combat & FPS Gamers.”

Like Canal Partners Media, Bully Pulpit has worked with business interests that are misaligned with some Democratic Party policy positions. The company was paid almost $760,000 in 2018 by Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, a nonprofit that was formed to resist Democratic efforts to create a universal health care system, according to a collaborative report by The American Prospect and MapLight. Partnership for America’s Health Care Future’ members include the pharmaceutical company group Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), hospital industry group American Hospital Association, and the Healthcare Leadership Council, which counts among its members Blue Cross Blue Shield, Pfizer, and UnitedHealth Group. A review of tax documents shows that Bully Pulpit has also worked for business interests like the US Telecom Association and the Nuclear Energy Institute. 

The largest pro-Harris super PAC, Future Forward, paid more than $6.7 million to media buying firm Waterfront Strategies, an arm of D.C.-based media giant GMMB, as well as $2.9 million to BPI, according to FEC data. Bully Pulpit similarly is one of the top vendors of the Democratic National Committee over the past two decades. In recent years, DNC members have proposed reforms that would increase transparency among party members over the party’s budget and the workings of the DNC Budget and Finance Committee, only to see the proposals rejected by opaque DNC committees. 

Read more of our DNC coverage here. 

Speed Read

Jacksonville Florida Times-Union: A day after president-elect Donald Trump named Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff, Continental Strategy announced it promoted Wiles's daughter Katie to be the director of its lobbying and consulting offices in Jacksonville and Washington D.C.

Associated Press: Elon Musk’s super PAC spent around $200 million to help elect Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the group’s spending, funding an effort that set a new standard for how billionaires can influence elections. 

1100 Pennsylvania: Trump Media director Eric Swider sold all of the stock he owned directly in the company on Friday, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission made Tuesday night. Previously, Swider had been the CEO of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the special purpose acquisition company that merged with Trump Media in March.

Today’s the first day of our new daily newsletter. Let me know what you think. Always happy to discuss feedback and ideas. I read and respond to all replies I get from these emails.   

A lot of people are trying to improve their media habits after the election, and we’re working to have more people discover our coverage. If you know someone who might be interested in subscribing to Sludge, feel free to forward this email. Here’s a link to a free 14-day trail that anyone can use.