Freshman Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) has reportedly been investing large amounts of money in online advertising and digital campaigning ahead of what many believe is a coming announcement that she is running for president.
“People see a potential in terms of digital fundraising, so I’m not surprised to see some of our younger, more ambitious members moving on that front – especially members who, part of their base or appeal is to younger voters,” Jaime Harrison, associate chair of the Democratic National Committee and a former South Carolina state party chair, told Politico‘s David Siders.
Harris reportedly spent over $600,000 on web advertising and digital campaign consulting in the first quarter of 2018 alone.
In March, Harris shopped a book to a top New York publisher titled Speaking Truth: Hard Facts and Hope for America’s Future, which further fueled talk of a potential run for president in 2020.
Harris currently has 1.6 million followers on her Twitter account and nearly 1 million followers on her Facebook fan page.
While she currently has less than $1.5 million available in her campaign war chest, her investment in digital advertising could help her raise funds at a grassroots level like progressives like former presidential candidates Barack Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) — who is also likely going to announce a run at the presidency after she runs for re-election later this year.
Last year, Warren said, “I’m not running for president.” However, it is more than likely that her book tour for her recently published This Fight Is Our Fight: The Battle to Save America’s Middle Class is part of an effort to prepare for a 2020 run for the White House — a path Harris may repeat.
Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.