Democratic primary challenger Marianne Williamson raised $920,000 in her latest quarterly disclosure — but her campaign is on the hook for a fair bit of money.
Williamson’s campaign reported about $270,000 in unpaid debts, according to financial reports filed Saturday. That was more than twice the $105,000 it reported in cash on hand.
The low fundraising haul comes after the author-turned-long-shot candidate told volunteers on a Zoom call this week that the campaign needed to increase its donations. Williamson said she couldn’t continue investing personal funds into the campaign. The latest disclosure shows that she’s now spent $220,000 on her presidential bid.
In an interview two days before the filing was released, campaign manager Carlos Cardona said that fundraising was a top priority for the campaign and that his goal was to double this quarter’s total for the next disclosure.
"I'll be working around the clock to make sure fundraising numbers look great for the next quarter and to make sure we can continue to work hard on this campaign,” Cardona told POLITICO.
In addition to the pressure to fundraise, the Williamson campaign is also fighting accusations from former staffers that her candidacy is a “grift” connected to the sale of her books. Williamson made her career as a best-selling author and has a new book, “The Mystic Jesus: The Mind of Love,” that is scheduled to be released this September.
The latest financial disclosure shows more than $800 spent on Barnes & Noble in 21 different transactions, though it does not specify what was purchased at the bookstore. One former employee who was granted anonymity to discuss internal campaign dynamics said that the campaign offered to send staffers copies of Williamson’s books, if they had not already read them, to help them better understand the candidate’s policies and perspective.The former employee shared a receipt with POLITICO for a purchase of Williamson’s books that matched the amount and approximate date of one of the Barnes & Noble transactions listed on the FEC report.
Cardona and the campaign press secretary Duran Brown did not respond to a request for comment about the Barnes & Noble expenses. Cardona was also not campaign manager during the second quarter (which is what is covered in the filing). He was promoted into the position June 30 — after two previous campaign managers departed in as many months.
Williamson's campaign has defended itself against accusations that she is boosting book sales through her presidential run.
“Was Andrew Yang trying to sell his book, you know, that he had last election? Was Joe Biden trying to sell his book? Was Barack Obama trying to sell his book? You know every candidate has a book,” Cardona told POLITICO ahead of the filing when asked about the grifting allegations and connection between Williamson’s candidacy and the new book.
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