Rand Paul presidential campaign raises $6.9M

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 Gov. 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 grassroots 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 Gov. 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 grassroots 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. But it also listed $716,443 in debts.

Among the thousands of contributions listed in the report is a $5,000 contribution made on May 27 by the Marijuana Policy Project PAC, of Washington D.C. The Marijuana Policy Project identifies itself on its website as the largest organization in the United States focused solely on ending marijuana prohibition.

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136. follow him on Twitter at @TomLoftus_CJ.