The first
finance report filed by Sen. Rand Paul’s presidential campaign shows
Kentucky’s junior senator has expanded upon his father Ron Paul’s mastery of
building a vast network of small donors.
But in a crowded campaign likely to be dominated by super PACs that can
accept contributions of unlimited amounts from billionaires, Paul finds himself
— at best — in the middle of the pack in the critical struggle for the big
money it will take to win the 2016 Republican nomination for president.
In a report filed Wednesday night with the Federal Election Commission, the
Paul campaign reported raising $6.9 million between April — when Paul announced
his candidacy — and June 30.
Of that total, $3.2 million came in small donations of $200 or less. Within
the group of 15 GOP presidential candidates, only retired neurosurgeon Ben
Carson has raised a higher percentage of his contributions from small donors.
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, for instance, reported
raising much more during the period than Paul — $11.4 million. But Bush
reported only $368,000 in contributions of $200 or less.
Paul campaign spokesman Sergio Gor declined to comment to The Courier-Journal. But
he told Breitbart News last week that 108,205 individual donors have given to
Paul, with the average contribution of $65.
Gor said those numbers show Paul has powerful grass-roots support of real
voters across the country.
But — unlike any presidential race before — the 2016 campaign will be
funded by the super PACs that support particular candidates.
Super PACs can accept contributions of unlimited amounts from individuals
and corporations. But a campaign can accept donations of no more than $2,700
per person.
And, at least for now, that’s where Paul apparently lags far behind Bush
and several others.
Numerous news outlets reported in the past week that a super PAC aiding
Bush has raised $103 million this year — dwarfing even the $11.4 million total
raised by the Bush campaign itself.
USA
TODAY reported this week that super PACs and outside groups have raised
substantial amounts for some of Paul’s rivals: $37 million for Texas Sen. Ted
Cruz, nearly $32 million for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and $16.8 million for
former Texas governor Rick Perry.
Paul has the backing of at least one super PAC — America’s Liberty PAC. But
unlike the outside groups supporting many other candidates, America’s Liberty
PAC has so far declined to say how much it has raised.
Super PACs are scheduled to disclose their finances for the recent quarter
with the FEC at the end of this month.
As for the Paul campaign’s take of $6.9 million in the past three months,
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said
he expected more. “It’s underwhelming. I expected more because he has a wide
and intense following,” Sabato said.
And of Paul’s campaign receipts, nearly $1.6 million came not in new
contributions but in transfers from other Paul political committees, including
a $1.4 million transfer from his campaign committee for re-election to the U.S.
Senate.
But Sabato added, “Paul does have a hidden ace with his small donors who
bring a grass-roots fervor to his campaign. And that matters.”
Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor at The Cook Political Report, agreed. “He’s
essentially doing what his father did in raising a lot from small donors,” she
said. “But of course he wants to be more successful than his father.”
Duffy said, “We need to see what his super PAC reports … I don’t think you
can win this” without significant support of a super PAC.
Paul’s campaign report shows that in addition to raising $6.9 million, it
spent about $2.8 million during the period, leaving a balance of nearly $4.2
million on hand as of June 30. It also listed $716,443 in debts.
Loftus reports for The Courier-Journal.
http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/07/16/rand-paul-raises-6-9-million-for-presidential-campaign/
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