The Tea Party Express, feeling their oats after propelling Joe Miller to a (likely) victory over Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) in Alaska, is now preparing to raise and spendsome big bucks on behalf of outsider Tea Party affiliated candidate Christine O’Donnell in her long shot Senate bid against Rep. Mike Castle (R) in Delaware — but could the group be throwing their money into a black hole? As Wilmington’s News Journal reported in March, O’Donnell and her campaign are both facing some serious financial woes, and O’Donnell may even be using her high profile Senate campaign as a means of staying afloat. The News Journal reported at the time that in addition to owing the federal government over $11,000 in taxes and penalties from 2005, O’Donnell’s campaign committee is also facing some serious debt that she collected from her previous run for the Senate in 2008: Her federal campaign committee reported $23,776 in debt, more than the $10,585 cash in her campaign account, according to her most recent filings with the Federal Elections Commission. The FEC has cited her eight times for failure to report her contributions between 2007 and 2009.
O’Donnell said she is raising money to pay off the 2008 campaign debt and informing donors some of the money she gets now will be used to settle past campaign claims.
In addition to the fact that some of her donations will be going to pay down her last campaign’s debt, O’Donnell is also paying half her rent with campaign donations because she’s using her house as her campaign headquarters and sharing it with a fellow staffer. While it might be the economical option, it’s not exactly inspiring great confidence that a donor’s campaign contributions will be put to the greatest use.