Politics

DNC Fires Finance Director After Abysmal Fiscal Year

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Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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The Democratic National Committee (DNC) fired its finance director Thursday due to low fundraising numbers, according to a Politico report.

Emily Mellencamp Smith was fired during the committee’s senior leadership’s efforts to reorganize and boost fundraising, Politico reported Thursday.

“We are grateful for Emily Mellencamp Smith’s work to help build a fundraising team that will raise the funds to win in 2017, 2018 and beyond. Emily is going back to consulting and helping elect Democrats in upcoming races, including staying on in a consulting role for the DNC at this time,” the DNC’s press secretary, Michael Tyler, told Politico.

From January to September under the leadership of DNC chairman Tom Perez, the DNC has only raised $51 million, compared to the Republican National Committee (RNC) which has raised more than $104 million during the same time period.

The RNC raised $7.3 million in the month of August, while the DNC raised only $4.35 million, according to FEC filings. This gives the RNC a total of $45.8 million cash on hand, while the DNC has only $6.8 million.

In addition, the RNC had no debt, while the DNC now owes slightly above $4 million.

Smith’s firing comes as former interim DNC chair Donna Brazile placed blame for the party’s financial woes squarely on former President Barack Obama and Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in a Thursday column, excoriating the pair for handing over complete control of the party to the Clinton campaign almost a year before she secured the nomination.

Soon after taking over as interim chair, Brazile set out to determine whether the DNC had improperly assisted former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in securing the party’s nomination, as leaked internal emails suggested. (RELATED: Donna Brazile SLAMS Debbie, Obama For Running The Party Into The Ground, Giving Hillary Control)

She quickly determined that the DNC was in serious financial peril and the former chair, Wasserman Schultz, had relinquished control of the party to the Clinton campaign in exchange for a monthly allowance that would cover the operation’s day-to-day costs.

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