Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Even With Crowded 2016 Field, GOP Donors Are Still Holding Back

Despite a wealth of choices in a crowded primary field, the vast majority of high-level Republican donors and fund-raisers have not yet backed any candidate financially, magnifying the importance of the coming debates as the presidential hopefuls seek to impress potential backers.
John Paulson has given money to Carly Fiorina. Credit
Mark Lennihan/AP
Only about a fifth of the 1,000 or so fund-raisers and their spouses who rallied around Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee in 2012, have given money to any of the 2016 candidates, according to a New York Times review of fund-raising records reported by the candidates last week.
Paul E. Singer is uncommitted. Credit Steve Marcus/Reuters
Those who remain uncommitted — hundreds of volunteer “bundlers” who could collect contributions from their friends and business associates — represent a huge pool of untapped campaign cash, potentially hundreds of millions of dollars, that could remake the primary campaign.
Those who remain uncommitted — hundreds of volunteer “bundlers” who could collect contributions from their friends and business associates — represent a huge pool of untapped campaign cash, potentially hundreds of millions of dollars, that could remake the primary campaign.
Some of the bundlers and donors said they had held back, in part, because the field was the strongest they had seen in years, with several viable contenders representing the party’s different generational and ideological segments.
Unlike in 2012, when Mr. Romney dominated fund-raising even as he fought off a series of insurgencies by more populist candidates, the affections of many donors in 2016 are divided among three or four candidates. Others are quietly weighing the impact of Donald J. Trump, who has jumped to the lead in some national polls despite raising almost no money from the party’s establishment.
“I haven’t committed to anyone at this point, and I’m not on the verge of committing to anyone,” said Paul E. Singer, a hedge fund manager who is among the most sought-after Republican bundlers in the country, at an investment conference last week. “I think there are a number of candidates that are smart, solid, good potential leaders, leaders and potential leaders.”
The slow recruitment of major donors and bundlers is also a function, several donors and Republican leaders said, of the candidates’ early emphasis on raising money for “super PACs,” which tend to be funded by a much smaller pool of extremely wealthy donors.
Read the rest of the story HERE.

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