He also donated to Fiorina’s presidential campaign committee, which can accept much less money ($5,400 per individual per election cycle) than super PACs.
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But campaign finance reports out this month show the elder Mercer playing the field.
Two weeks ago, numerous candidates filed their first campaign fundraising reports.
But now it’s going to be a lot harder for anyone to think of the Bush super-PAC-which completely dwarfs his campaign in terms of financial resources-as anything but driven by extremely wealthy donors. Carly Fiorina’s? Because of that position, he’s legally restricted in what he can tell the super PAC.
The bulk of the money was raised by the group before Bush announced his candidacy, when the former Florida governor himself was fundraising for his super PAC. Mercer at least supports Fiorina personally – he gave $2,700, the legal maximum, to her official campaign.
The Louisiana governor’s sole million-dollar check comes from Gary Chouest, who owns a company that specializes in shipping. In total, the group Conservative Solutions pulled in about $16 million, including a $3 million gift from Oracle founder Larry Ellison. One $1 million donation came from a shell corporation called Jasper Reserve LLC. Fellow Dallas businessman Deason gave $5 million. Richard Uihlein and his wife, Elizabeth, gave $2.5 million. Rubio also has a political nonprofit group – which isn’t required to disclose its donors – that raised another $16 million. Miguel “Mike” Fernandez, a Miami health care investor, made the biggest contribution at just over $3 million. $3 million of that came from one man: Ron Cameron. Yet he appeared as a featured speaker at only one of its donor gatherings.
The other three Keep the Promise groups supporting Cruz haven’t yet filed as of early afternoon. The Ricketts family owns the Chicago Cubs. San Francisco-based American Pacific global Capital Inc., an investor and developer with projects in the United States and China, gave $1.3 million.
Among the largest contributions were $1 million each from hedge fund manager Steven Cohen and his wife Alexandra Marie Cohen, and $750,000 from Quicken Loans founder Daniel Gilbert.
There won’t be much talk of Democrats in the presidential super PAC filings. Diane Hendricks, the billionaire executive of a wholesale roofing company headquartered in Wisconsin, also wrote a $5 million check. About two-thirds came from Kelcy Warren and Darwin Deason.
The group has $10.7 million on hand as of June 30.
But while Priorities collected from about 30 donors in the first six months of the year, the super PAC helping Republican candidate Jeb Bush persuaded 9,900 contributors to give a record haul of $103 million. More than a dozen of his $1 million donors hail from one of the states Bush has called home: Texas and Florida. George H.W. Bush gave $125,000 to his son’s super PAC, but George W. Bush only gave $95,000 to his brother’s.
Since Bush entered the race, the Murphy-run super PAC has begun buying up digital ads through Murphy’s firm.
But now, that group — which has indicated it would focus more on grass-roots engagement — seems to be faltering, having only raised $250,000 in the first half of 2015.
The bottom lines for super PACs backing four other GOP contenders: $38 million for Texas Sen.
Another highlight of the Right to Rise donor list is corporate money.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich is drawing on a few of his state’s top givers to bankroll his new presidential campaign.
“Gov. Kasich has built a strong base in Ohio and has attracted donors nationally because supporters have seen, many firsthand, how his policies and leadership are working in Ohio”, said Connie Wehrkamp, a spokeswoman for Kasich’s group.
The pro-Cruz PAC, Keep the Promise I, reported the disbursement Friday in a document filed with the Federal Election Commission. Jeff Yass, managing director of high-frequency trading firm Susquehanna worldwide Group, split a $2 million contribution between Purple PAC and America’s Liberty.
Rand Paul’s super PACs raised only $6 million but are funded by essentially just three donors.
PayPal board member and Silicon Valley investor Scott Banister gave $1.25 million to Concerned American Voters, one of three super PACs supporting Kentucky Sen.
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But O’Doherty, the head of the pro-O’Malley super PAC, predicted that as “the stakes become clear”, Democratic donors will begin opening their wallets to super PACs, “even if they’re still a little bit contemptuous of these organizations”.
