Priorities USA Action, which supports Hillary Clinton, raised $9.6 million in January and spent only $600,000, | AP Photo Clinton super PAC expands war chest James Simons leads with $3.5 million gift

The super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton netted six more seven-figure donations last month while largely making good on its pledge to save its war chest for the general election.

Priorities USA Action raised $9.6 million in January and spent only $600,000, increasing its cash on hand by 25 percent to $44.8 million, according to a filing today with the Federal Election Commission.


James Simons, the billionaire founder of quantitative hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, gave $3.5 million, folowed by $2 million from the Laborers' International Union of North America's super PAC. Texas lawyer J. Steve Mostyn, Jay Robert and Mary Kathryn Pritzker, and Slim-Fast billionaire S. Daniel Abraham gave $1 million each.

The super PAC's spent far less in January than its monthly pace last year. Its biggest expense was research, to Democratic stalwart Global Strategy Group and two marketing firms whose websites say they specialize in the Hispanic community: Opinion Access Corp. and Castillo & Associates.

The 14-person payroll cost $87,463.36. The report also showed a $12,000 catering charge at the St. Regis New York, where the super PAC raised $8 million in December.

Priorities USA became a flashpoint in the Feb. 11 debate as Bernie Sanders again attacked Clinton's reliance on billionaires. Clinton's defense tried to portray the PAC as an Obama organization that subsequently decided to support her. But that understated the group's extensive ties to some of her key supporters. It's run by Guy Cecil, her 2008 field director; was restructured by her campaign chairman, John Podesta; transfers funds to Correct the Record, a research group that does coordinate with the Clinton campaign; and has featured Bill Clinton at fundraisers.