Kamala Harris: Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems

California Attorney General Kamala Harris has replaced campaign manager Rory Steele after her campaign, flush with cash, spent nearly all of it.

Perhaps the cloak of invincibility that has been ascribed to the Harris’s 2016 senatorial ambitions has a tear in it after all.

Steele will be succeeded by Juan Rodriguez, a senior adviser to the campaign, according to The Hill. Harris is also pruning costs by cutting staff and other spending. The Sacramento Bee reported on October 29 that between July and September, Harris collected $1.8 million but spent roughly $1.4 million, while accumulating another $400,000 in debts. The bulk of the money raised can only be used for the general election, leaving Harris more vulnerable in the primary, where she has only $1.3 million left, according to the Bee. Her chief challenger, Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez, has $1.2 million available for the primary.

Harris spokesman Nathan Click protested to The Hill:“Like every campaign, we’re making adjustments in alignment with our strategy to win. Kamala Harris has proven herself to be one of the strongest fundraisers in the country this election cycle and our campaign is going to have the resources to win in June and November. We are making some additional reductions to our consultants and staff to put our campaign in the strongest position to win.”

An October Field Poll showed Harris garnering 30% of the vote, followed by Sanchez (17%), Republican Assemblyman Rocky Chavez (9%), and former California GOP chairman Tom Del Beccaro (6%).

If one of the two GOP candidates drops out and throws his support to the other, a close race for second place could enable a GOP candidate to run in the general election.

The top two finishers in the primary, regardless of party affiliation, will progress to the general election under California’s “jungle primary” system.