Marco Rubio is running third in Iowa behind frontrunner Donald Trump and second-place Ted Cruz. | Getty Pro-Rubio super PAC raised $14.4 million in second half of 2015

The super PAC backing Marco Rubio reported Sunday that it raised $14.4 million in the last half of 2015 and still has $13.9 million in the bank to buoy the Republican’s presidential campaign.

In all, Conservative Solutions raised more than $30 million for the entire year ending Dec. 31 and has spent $16.5 million, nearly all on television ads that have helped shield Rubio as more than $25 million in negative ads from his rivals and their super PACs have rained upon him — especially in Iowa, which holds its caucus Monday.


Rubio is running third in Iowa behind frontrunner Donald Trump and second-place Ted Cruz, according to the most recent polls.

“The $30 million raised and the continued strong fundraising in January allowed us to fully fund our campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire, so much so that we were able to go up on TV a month earlier than originally planned,” Jeff Sadosky, the super PAC’s spokesman said.

“That air cover has been incredibly important as Marco has found himself attacked by Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton and the assorted groups supporting their candidacy,” Sadosky said. “An amazing 55% of all negative ads run in the state of Iowa have been targeted at Marco Rubio. More money, an estimated $25.5 million nationally, has been spent attacking Marco than the entire rest of the GOP presidential field combined.”

Among Rubio’s biggest donors: longtime financial backer Norm Braman, a Miami-area car dealer and former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, who pitched in $1 million in the last six-month reporting period. That brings his total to $6 million. Braman hasn’t denied reports that he is ready to commit as much as $10 million to help Rubio.

Mega-hedge fund manager Paul Singer chipped in $2.5 million and his friend, investment tycoon Cliff Asness, gave $1 million. Another top investor, Kenneth C. Griffin, gave $2.5 million in the last six months of 2015 on top of the $100,000 he gave in the first half of the year.

Other $1 million donations in the second half of the year came from Missouri building products tycoon David Humphreys and Mary M. Spencer of Key Biscayne, Florida.

Florida lobbyist and former Bush donor Brian Ballard gave $25,000. Ballard stopped helping Bush’s campaign when he thought it was dedicated too much to tearing down Rubio.

Some influential Texans also gave big in the second half of the year, including Houston Texans football team owner Robert C. McNair, who donated $500,000, and Harlan Crow, who donated $100,000.

And a number of corporations combined to donate more than $1.6 million, including Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which became a conservative cause célèbre when it successfully challenged an Obamacare provision that could have forced for-profit employers with religious objections to pay for contraception coverage. Hobby Lobby donated $10,000 to Conservative Solutions.