Wealthy donors seize steering wheel in 2016 races

Fredreka Schouten | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Money from wealthy political patrons is gushing into the 2016 presidential contest, racing past the fundraising of Republican candidates themselves as donors seek new ways to influence who wins the party's nomination.

One example: Allies of two GOP contenders from Texas — Sen. Ted Cruz and former Texas governor Rick Perry — have created multiple super PACs, aimed at giving donors more say in how their money is spent.

Cruz benefits from four closely connected outside groups that in a single week raised three times the amount the first-term senator collected over three months.

Perry is supported by three super PACs, dubbed Opportunity and Freedom PAC, Opportunity and Freedom I and Opportunity and Freedom II.

Donors "want to be able to participate in a greater way because they believe in Rick Perry," said Austin Barbour, a Mississippi-based Republican strategist who is a senior adviser to the groups. "They know their money is sitting in that account," he said. "It gives them a great sense that they are doing everything they can to help the governor."

Barbour said he doesn't expect the contributors to micromanage the super PACs' operations, but he welcomes their insights. "They won't say, 'Spend in Des Moines vs. Davenport,' " he said. "But they might say, 'You should talk about the economy in Texas and the governor's record.' "

The pro-Perry super PACs have raised nearly $17 million, compared with $1 million Perry has collected since entering the race last month.

Donors include Dallas energy billionaire Kelcy Warren, who contributed $6 million and has close ties to Perry. Warren is a top fundraiser for Perry's campaign, and the former governor sits on the board of Warren's company, Energy Transfer Partners.

Through a spokeswoman, Warren declined an interview request this week.

Wednesday is the deadline for candidates to disclose their April-to-June fundraising with the Federal Election Commission. Super PACs must detail their fundraising by month's end but already have started to tout their big totals.

Strategists and donors say contributors in the 2016 election want more influence after Republicans sent millions into super PAC accounts in 2012 and still failed to oust President Obama.

"Most people who are in a position to write checks to super PACS are swift in business themselves," said John Jordan, the Sonoma, Calif.,-based CEO of Jordan Winery and an increasingly active GOP donor. "You don't want to be forced into a box where someone else is making the decisions."

In 2013, Jordan took the go-alone approach, hiring his own campaign team and putting $1.7 million into a super PAC that sought unsuccessfully to elect Republican Gabriel Gomez to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts.

He started another super PAC to help Republicans in 2014 and even scripted its ads. He said he is likely to be active again in 2016 but has not decided on any candidates or details, adding that he's "very favorably inclined" toward Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Walker announced his candidacy Monday, becoming Republican No. 15 in the race.

Super PACs can raise unlimited amounts from individuals, corporations and unions but are not permitted to coordinate their spending with campaigns. Candidates are barred from accepting money directly from corporations and unions and cannot raise more than $2,700 for the primary election.

Fred Wertheimer of the campaign-finance watchdog Democracy 21 said the rise of donor-specific super PACs is another example of the breakdown of the nation's election system.

"The elections are coming down to the candidates and billionaires while 300 million Americans are supposed to sit around like a Greek chorus," he said.

David Keating, who favors fewer campaign restrictions as president of the Center for Competitive Politics, said donor-focused super PACs may provide greater accountability and transparency to contributors. Each super PAC is required to detail its fundraising and spending in regular reports to the Federal Election Commission.

"It's one thing to get a promise that 'We'll spend your money this way,' but it's another thing to see exactly how it was spent in a report that has to be filed with the government," said Keating, the plaintiff in the federal case that helped create super PACs in 2010.

All of the major Republican candidates have at least one super PAC aiding their campaigns. The super PAC aiding former Florida governor Jeb Bush leads all his Republican and Democratic rivals in the money chase, collecting $103 million this year from nearly 10,000 donors.

Two groups backing Florida Sen. Marco Rubio have raised nearly $32 million. Ohio Gov. John Kasich hasn't even entered the race, but outside groups have raised $11.5 million on the Republican's behalf.

The picture is very different on the Democratic side, where front-runner Hillary Clinton has raised $45 million since entering the race in April. The super PACs and non-profit groups backing Clinton have trailed with a combined $24 million during the first six months of the year

All the outside spending on the Republican side could fuel a drawn-out nomination battle, reminiscent of the 2012 election. The eventual nominee, Mitt Romney, was forced into a protracted fight with Republicans Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, who each had super PAC support from wealthy contributors.

Foster Friess, a Wyoming-based investor who backed Santorum in 2012, told USA TODAY recently that he intends to support Santorum once again.

Other wealthy donors, such as casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who have the bank accounts to reshape the race are still on the sidelines. Billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch are weighing entering the GOP primary for the first time to support one or more candidates.

Freedom Partners, an umbrella political group for the Koch network, send out its first questionnaire to presidential contenders this summer, asking them to weigh in on everything from expanding Medicaid coverage to more Americans (which the Kochs oppose) to changing the criminal justice system (which the Kochs support.)

Next month, four candidates — Bush, Rubio, Walker and Cruz — are slated to attend a gathering of Koch-aligned donors in California.