DNC beefs up its finance team

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is beefing up its finance team, announcing a slate of new hires as the party looks to flex its newfound financial muscle.

The DNC said it is hiring Michael Pratt as its finance director, Colleen Coffey as its deputy finance director and Raymond Pham as its director of coalitions fundraising. They are joining Kate DiLello, who currently serves as deputy finance director, and Sarah Hasenfuss, who serves as chief of staff to the finance team.

“We are thrilled to announce new additions to our team at the DNC,” said DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison. “These new staff hires are among the best our party has to offer and will bring experience and strength to the Democratic Party. They will help us to grow our party infrastructure, implement our 50-state strategy, and defend our victories in the months and years ahead.”

The new hires bring a deep well of experience to the finance team. Pratt has fundraised for Democrats for almost 20 years and most recently served as a senior adviser to President Biden’s White House campaign. Coffey served as a senior adviser to Biden’s campaign as well and was also a finance director for Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Pham most recently served as coalitions finance director for Biden’s campaign and the 59th Presidential Inaugural Committee.

“In my 26 years of being involved with the DNC fundraising efforts, there’s never been a team that had this kind of experience,” said Chris Korge, the DNC’s finance chairman. “We’re going to need that experience to compete against Donald Trump’s fundraising apparatus and continue to win up and down the ballot.”

The hires come as the DNC heads into the 2022 midterm cycle in the unfamiliar position of being flush with cash.

The committee finished 2020 with $38.8 million in the bank and $3 million in debts, with about $40 million earmarked for the party. Those figures marked a sharp contrast to September 2019, when it had about $1 million less in its bank account than it owed in debts.

The party’s current funds are likely to be tapped heading into 2022, when Democrats will look to hang on to their narrow margins in the House and Senate. Republicans need to only flip five seats in the House and one seat in the Senate to reclaim both chambers of Congress.