Carly Fiorina was very late in paying off the debts from her 2010 campaign

Republican presidential candidate and former HP CEO Carly Firoina

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

last updated 5 October 2015

Carly Fiorina is well into her second political campaign, but, according to The Washington Post, she only just paid off debts from her first. Records show that the 2016 Republican presidential candidate, who challenged longtime Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in 2010, had right up until January "more than 30 invoices, totaling about $500,000, that the multimillionaire didn't settle — even as Fiorina reimbursed herself nearly $1.3 million she lent the campaign," The Post reports. Fiorina "finally cleared most of the balance in January," the Post says, but it also found one strategist who's still waiting for his check. (Update: The Fiorina campaign disputes this, and says "there is no outstanding debt.")

"Occasionally, I'd call and tell her she should pay them," Fiorina's former campaign manager Martin Wilson told The Washington Post. "She just wouldn't."

Campaign debts certainly aren't unusual. As The Post highlights, Hillary Clinton, for instance, "did not close out the $20 million she owed from her 2008 presidential campaign until January 2013." But what is unusual about Fiorina's case is her seeming unwillingness to repay her debts. Fiorina reportedly declined to set up a payment plan or a fundraiser to foot outstanding bills, as is common practice for "struggling" campaigns.