WASHINGTON, July 16 (Reuters) - Among
disclosed donors propelling fundraising for Republican presidential hopeful
Mitt Romney, fewer than 1 percent have hit the federal ceiling on donations,
suggesting cash is likely to keep pouring into his coffers.
Only 40 donors have given $75,800 -- the
maximum individuals are allowed to give before the Nov. 6 election -- to the
joint fund that Romney shares with the Republican National Committee, according
to a Reuters analysis of the fund's first campaign finance filing submitted
late on Sunday.
That is a drop in the ocean of more than
19,000 named donors -- those who have given a total of at least $200 and so
triggered the threshold for federal disclosure. Some 2,000 of those named
donors to the Romney Victory Inc fund have given $25,000 but can give more
before hitting the limit, the analysis showed.
Democratic President Barack Obama's
campaign filings show he is in a similar position, with very few donors having
reached the maximum contribution limit. But his finances were previously
disclosed, and his fundraising pattern has shown him less reliant on and
successful at pulling in big checks.
Joint funds allow candidates to rake in
much bigger donations than are allowed for campaigns on their own.
Romney formed his Victory fund with the RNC
in April when he first emerged as the presumed party nominee. Since then, the
fund has received $140.3 million, almost all of it from donors giving more than
$200.
Obama has seen 29 donors give the maximum
amount this year to the fund he shares with the Democratic National Committee,
out of a total of about 38,000 donors who had given at least $200 to the fund
before the end of May, according to the latest available data.
In contrast with the prolific small-donor
driven campaign that put Obama into the White House in 2008, the 2012 race is
marked by a chase after contributors capable of five-figure donations or more,
as Democrats and Republicans are expected to invest some $1 billion each in
this year's campaigns.
Obama's total haul of $552 million so far
still has him ahead of Romney's $394 million but the Republican challenger has
drilled deep into the ranks of Wall Street and the wealthy, where many are
disgruntled by what they see as Obama's anti-business rhetoric and policies.
That reach has aided Romney's fast-paced
catch-up to Obama's fundraising. Usually, the advantage in this area is held by
an incumbent over the presidential challenger.
The president's campaign has been sounding
alarms that he could be the first incumbent to be outspent.
And the Victory fund is one of the avenues
Romney has to make that happen. While campaigns can take only up to $5,000 from
one donor, split between the primary process and the general election, a fund
used jointly with the national party can accept up to $70,800 in addition to
that.
CASH IN THE BANK
The Victory fund, holding most of Romney's
cash potency, has so far dispersed only a fraction of its money.
The Romney campaign has received $15.8
million and $53 million has been transferred to the RNC, Sunday's filing with
the Federal Election Commission showed. State Republican parties in Vermont,
Oklahoma, Massachusetts and Idaho each got $20,000.
That and money paid out mostly for travel,
consulting and payroll has left $57.7 million sitting in the fund by the end of
June, ready to be funneled to Romney's or the party's needs.
Combined with the rest of Romney's and the
RNC's money at the end of last month, the Republican had $160 million in cash
on hand, his campaign has said.
Obama, his Obama Victory Fund 2012, and the
DNC have not released their June cash on hand data but at the end of May had a
total of about $144 million in the bank.
At the end of May, 11 percent of Romney's
donations had come from those who gave $200 or less, according to analysis by
the non-partisan Campaign Finance Institute. By comparison, 41 percent of the
Obama campaign's donors had given $200 or less.
WALL STREET, LOBBYIST LINKS
Romney himself and his wife, Ann, each
chipped in $75,000 to the joint fund in May. At the time, donors to the
campaign saw that as a sign that Romney, a millionaire who could self-fund as
much as he wants, was willing to put as much on the line as he was asking of
his donors.
Romney's eldest son, Tagg, and his wife,
Jennifer, each gave $47,500, filings showed. The candidate's brother G. Scott
Romney donated another $50,000.
Sunday's filings also serve as latest
indication of Romney's deep ties with Wall Street: Nine of top 10 companies giving
to Romney were in the financial sector.
Employees of Goldman Sachs topped the list
with $902,310 in contributions. Employees of hedge fund Elliott Management gave
$771,600 and supporters from Bain Capital, a private equity firm formerly run
by Romney, reached $757,100.
The list also includes banks Morgan
Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Credit Suisse and investment management firm Apollo
Global Management. .
Sunday's reports also showed 15 lobbyists
"bundling" --gathering large amounts of cash -- for Romney's Victory
fund and raised $2.2 million since April. A third of them are also bundling for
Romney's campaign itself.
Unlike Obama, Romney has not disclosed his
bundlers who are not registered lobbyists; disclosure of bundlers who lobby is
required by federal law.
The 15 bundlers disclosed on Sunday include
lobbyists for Barclays and Goldman Sachs, hotel operator Marriott International
Inc, insurer Aflac, tech giant Microsoft Corp and brewer Anheuser Busch.
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