Sen. Ted Cruz leads Republican candidates in donations from individuals in the state of Pennsylvania-Morning Call

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8/7/15, "Pennsylvania playing small role in early GOP fundraising," Morning Call, mcall.com, Laura Olson

"When the Republican presidential candidates debated Thursday evening, some Pennsylvanians got their first look at the field--and a handful of others were watching to see how their early investments are turning out.

Commonwealth residents make up only a small fraction of the gusher of financial contributions that already are flooding the 2016 presidential race.

A Morning Call analysis of recent campaign filings shows Pennsylvanians have given more than $622,000 directly to the GOP contenders, or about 1.6 percent of the candidates' total contributions from individuals.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has received the largest amount--$187,654--from Pennsylvanians.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who collected only $464,00 from individuals, gathered 18 percent of those dollars from his former constituents.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson's $75,125 raised in Pennsylvania comes from the largest number of donors. His finance reports list 167 individual donors in Pennsylvania, and a New York Times analysis showed that more than 80 percent of his contributions were less than $200.

How many Pennsylvanians gave $250 or more to one of the Republican presidential contenders? About 690, according to Federal Election Commission data.

The slim amount of presidential fundraising dollars coming from Pennsylvania didn't surprise Franklin and Marshall political scientist Terry Madonna.

"The field is still too unsettled," Madonna said, noting that Pennsylvania's primary election date in April puts it after a number of other states, meaning that candidates aren't spending much time here and voters may not be picking sides yet.

The candidates' official fundraising accounts, however, are just one source of the dollars that will be paying for television ads, polling and other political activities as the election unfolds. A growing series of super PACs are supporting the presidential contenders, largely through the contributions of a handful of megadonors.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has gotten the largest amount of super PAC assistance from a Pennsylvanian: Jeff Yass, co-founder of the Bala Cynwyd-based investment firm Susquehanna International Group, has contributed at least $2.25 million among three super PACs supporting Paul.

Yass, along with his partners at Susquehanna International Group, were significant supporters of Philadelphia state Sen. Anthony Williams' campaigns for governor and for Philadelphia mayor. In those races, their backing focused on Williams' support of charter schools and taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers for private schools.

Super PACs supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie have tallied six-figure sums from Pennsylvania donors.

The America Leads super PAC backing Christie tallied $451,000 collected from Pennsylvanians, including $350,000 from Marjorie and Walter Buckley Jr., of Bethlehem, who were original investors in Home Depot.

The $469,500 raised in the state by the pro-Bush Right to Rise PAC includes $150,000 from Montgomery County resident Greg Segall of Versa Capital Management.

A trickle of the millions already being spent also is heading back to Pennsylvania. The Conservative Solutions super PAC, which backs Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, paid $5,000 to Pittsburgh-based Cold Spark Media in June for "special project coordination." Among the firm's other clients are Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and state House Speaker Mike Turzai.

The pro-Christie America Leads PAC paid $3,000 to Harrisburg-based Red Maverick Media for design consulting and supplies. Mike Leavitt, a partner at the firm, was hired by the PAC this summer to handle direct mail." via Free Rep.




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