The Democratic National Committee, which borrowed more than $20 million at the end of the 2012 election, continues to fall further into the red at a time when it is supposed to be paying off its debt.
The committee, which was $20.6 million in debt as of Nov. 26, has actually added more since then. Its total obligations rose to $21.9 million at the end of February, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.
The committee owes an even $15 million on a loan. And the amount owed to vendors has risen to nearly $6.9 million in the early months of the 2014 cycle.
But those numbers don't even tell the whole story of the committee's struggling finances. In addition to taking on more debt, the committee has seen its cash on hand reduced by more than half since Nov. 26, from $9.7 million to just more than $4 million.
While the committee had $10.8 million more debt than cash back then, it now has $17.8 million more debt than cash. In February alone, the debt-to-cash difference rose by $1.7 million.
In other words, the committee is spending more than it is raising, and it's not spending that money on paying off debts.
The committee didn't immediately response to a request for comment.
While it's not unusual for a committee to go into debt at the end of an election cycle, generally the committee starts paying it off at the beginning of the next cycle, pays it off as soon as possible, and then builds a war chest with which to use in the following election.
The DNC's counterpart, the Republican National Committee, didn't go into debt at the end of 2012 and had $7.5 million in the bank at the end of February.
