Sen. Kamala Harris has canceled a high-profile New York fundraiser as she drops in the polls and amid reports that her 2020 presidential campaign is in disarray.
The event, which was scheduled to take place on Tuesday at the Paul Weiss law firm, was suddenly nixed due to what was described by the campaign as a "personal matter," according to people familiar with the situation. No date was given for rescheduling. Donors were informed of the decision earlier Tuesday.
Indeed, just under an hour after this story first published, Harris dropped out of the race.
An invitation shows that the fundraiser was expected to draw some of Harris' top bundlers, including hedge fund executive Marc Lasry, financier Blair Effron and Paul Weiss chairman Brad Karp. All three are listed as members of Harris' finance committee. Also slated to attend was Citigroup executive Ray McGuire and music industry investor Matt Pincus.
Tickets started at $500 and went up to $2,800, which is the maximum a donor can give during a campaign cycle.
Neither a spokesperson for the Harris campaign nor executives on the finance committee returned requests for comment.
The cancellation comes as Harris faces a reckoning in the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, six months after she surged into the top tier by taking on front-runner Joe Biden at the first debate of the primary cycle.
The Washington Post and The New York Times published stories last week depicting disarray in the Harris campaign.
The Times reported that Harris' sister Maya Harris and her campaign manager Juan Rodriguez were getting most of the blame from campaign aides. The report shows aides privately questioning their decision to move most of their resources into the early caucus state of Iowa.
Harris has been slipping in the polls for months and struggling to keep up in the fundraising game.
She finished the third quarter raising just over $11 million, putting her well behind Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
A Morning Consult poll taken during the week of Thanksgiving had her tied for fifth with the newcomer in the race, billionaire Mike Bloomberg.
A Real Clear Politics polling average has her in sixth place with just 3.4% of the Democratic primary vote, behind Bloomberg and the rest of the field.
