Billionaires Put Their Stamp on 2016 Presidential Campaigns

LINK: A Guide to the Billionaires Bankrolling the 
GOP Candidates

Well-to-do backers are funding super PACs aligned with several candidates, campaign reports show

Billionaires are bankrolling the early days of the 2016 presidential campaign to an unprecedented degree, with at least 40 of the wealthiest Americans plowing $60 million into super PACs aligned with the top tier of candidates.

A score of billionaires have donated big bucks to the super

 PAC aligned with Republican presidential candidate Jeb 

Bush, shown at a campaign rally this week in 

Maitland, Fla. Photo: Joe Burbank/TNS/Zuma Press

The torrent of super PAC money is revolutionizing presidential politics in the wake of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that opened the door to unlimited contributions from corporations, unions and individuals into these outside groups.

Super PACs backing 17 presidential candidates raised more than $250 million in the first six months of this year, roughly doubling the $125 million raised by the candidates for their campaigns, disclosure reports filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission show.

CLICK CHART to ENLARGE

The proliferation of the committees also is transforming how presidential campaigns will be run. Some candidates are exporting to outside groups some core components of their operations, including voter-turnout programs and television advertising. Since federal law prohibits coordination with super PACs, the candidates won’t have direct control over some essential tasks, pushing the 2016 race into uncharted territory.

LINK:  Koch Brothers Conference Brings Big Donors and
Some GOP Candidates to California.

The broad engagement by wealthy donors also helps explain why the GOP field, in particular, keeps expanding. Almost every one of the primary candidates has a billionaire at his back, which means the life of their candidacies is now divorced from their ability to directly raise money from voters.

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