Issue date: 7/31/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Priscilla des Gachons/DP File Photo Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke at the Palestra last year. In total, the Clinton campaign owed almost $150,000 to universities nationwide as of last month, including almost $25,000 the campaign owes Penn. [Click to enlarge]

It's been almost two months since former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign, but that doesn't mean her bills will disappear.

While Clinton paid off outstanding debts to 15 colleges and universities last month, she still owes almost $150,000 for events her campaign held at schools across the nation as of June 30.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Clinton owed a total of $146,347.29 to 10 colleges and universities as of June 30. This includes $24,238.99 - a sum that has increased slightly since last month - still owed to Penn.

Ron Ozio, director for media relations at Penn, said the fees charged by the University generally include costs for sound equipment, other equipment rentals and staff set-up time, though he was unsure of the specific costs included in Clinton's bill.

Other universities owed money for rallies and other campaign events include Temple University, California State University Los Angeles and Arizona State University.

Both political analyst and St. Joseph's University history professor Randall Miller and Penn political science professor Henry Teune stressed that outstanding debt is common among candidates who have lost an election.

Vendors, like Penn and other universities, "are expected to wait," Miller said, or perhaps not receive payment at all.

"I don't think she's going to be able to get enough money in her accounts to pay her outstanding debts in the short run," Miller said.

But Clinton is slowly chipping away at her debts. The campaign paid off debts to 15 colleges and universities in the month of June, including eight Pennsylvania schools.

And while she still owed money to several universities as of June 30, she has paid off part of the balance at some of these schools, including Penn, Cal State LA and University of Texas at Brownsville.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools