--- description: Internal documents reveal that Ben Carson's campaign is spending more money than it's taking in. title: Ben Carson's Campaign Burning Through Cash image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54914438c4ed8713/698872652dce0185079e69f7/ben-carson9.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ben Carson's Campaign Burning Through Cash  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 22, 2015 3:53 PM CUT  Dr. Ben Carson at a news conference in Henderson, Nev. on Nov. 16, 2015. Dr. Ben Carson at a news conference in Henderson, Nev. on Nov. 16, 2015.John Locher—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 22, 2015 3:53 PM CUT Internal documents reveal that Ben Carson’s campaign is spending more money than it’s taking in. According to documents [obtained by the Wall Street _Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-ben-carsons-presidential-campaign-burns-through-cash-1450737575 "undefined"), Carson’s team raised $8.8 million in October and spent $9.5 million. Campaign spokesperson Doug Watts told the newspaper that it spent more than it took in that month to pre-pay for direct mail and advertising campaigns. “You can easily go upside down in a budget report that’s on a cash basis without actually being upside down,” He said. “You’re paying for expenses that you are incurring for future activities, for future fundraising activities or for future campaign activities.” This revelation of heavy spending comes amid a slide for Carson, who has been slipping in the polls over the past few weeks. Carson was in first place in Iowa on November 1, down to fourth place now. \[[_Wall Street Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/republican-ben-carsons-presidential-campaign-burns-through-cash-1450737575 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4158550/ben-carson-campaign-spending-money/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4158550/ben-carson-campaign-spending-money/"},"headline":"Ben Carson's Campaign Burning Through Cash","datePublished":"2015-12-22T15:53:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:35:03.612Z","description":"Internal documents reveal that Ben Carson's campaign is spending more money than it's taking in.","url":"https://time.com/4158550/ben-carson-campaign-spending-money/","keywords":["2016 Election topic","Dr. Benjamin S. Carson"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54914438c4ed8713/698872652dce0185079e69f7/ben-carson9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54914438c4ed8713/698872652dce0185079e69f7/ben-carson9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dr. Ben Carson at a news conference in Henderson, Nev. on Nov. 16, 2015.","caption":"Dr. Ben Carson at a news conference in Henderson, Nev. on Nov. 16, 2015.","creditText":"John Locher—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4158550/ben-carson-campaign-spending-money/","name":"Ben Carson's Campaign Burning Through Cash"}}]}] ```