Reports indicate that the campaign spent an estimated $20 million on the concerts, raising concerns among staff and vendors who now worry they may not be compensated as rumors of campaign debt surface. Kamala Harris’s campaign wrapped up with a major election-eve concert event on Monday night, just before her loss to Donald Trump in the presidential race.
According to campaign members who spoke to media, these events severely depleted the campaign’s funds. This financial strain became apparent earlier, with one planned performance by ’90s icon Alanis Morissette being canceled to cut costs. The concert series featured artists like Bon Jovi in Detroit, Christina Aguilera in Las Vegas, Katy Perry in Pittsburgh, and Lady Gaga in Philadelphia, with rapper 2Chainz joining Harris in Atlanta just three days before Election Day on November 2.
Two sources revealed that the concert idea came from Obama campaign veteran Stephanie Cutter, supported by fellow Obama alum David Plouffe. The plan was ultimately approved by campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon, although she faced internal criticism for delaying her decision, which reportedly led to increased production costs. According to one insider, “putting [concerts] together last minute makes [them] cost twice as much.”
The campaign’s operations chief, Dana Rosenzweig, was also criticized for not flagging budget concerns sooner, though another insider defended her, saying that budget management was the responsibility of the finance team. “They were ‘spending to zero,’” one source quipped, “but they overshot zero.”
An insider voiced concerns about the impact of these concerts on campaign staff, noting that large teams of 40-60 people were deployed in some cities for concert preparations. The insider added, “I’m sure vendors will start to get upset soon” as reimbursements remain outstanding.
In the week leading up to Election Day, campaign leaders realized their $1 billion budget was nearly exhausted, prompting them to trim concert expenses, initially projected at $15-$20 million, in response to budget overruns. One source commented, “They knew about the budget crunch and cut talent from some cities due to cost.”
Another source criticized the spending on concerts as “a real misuse of funds that could have been better spent on ads laying out economic policies,” noting that voters were more concerned with financial issues than celebrity endorsements. “It didn’t matter to have a bunch of celebrities talking to no one, especially since 75 million people had already voted,” the source added.
Politico reported that despite raising significant funds during the 107-day campaign, Harris’s campaign finished with at least $20 million in debt. Donation pages remain active to raise funds post-election to help cover this deficit.
