(Correction 2/25: This post has been updated to reflect that a $100,000 contribution from Mr. Charles Schwab was incorrectly classified by the Center as coming from Charles Schwab & Co. Charles Schwab & Co. has not donated to American Solutions from its corporate treasury. The Center regrets the error.)

As he weighs a potential run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has built a hefty war chest and one thick Rolodex.

During the past five years, Gingrich has raised about $52 million for his tax-exempt political committee, including $28.2 million during 2009 and 2010, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis. During the 2008 election cycle, the group raked in $22.7 million.

Gingrich’s committee’s name is American Solutions for Winning the Future. The group’s name shares a meme with Gingrich’s 2005 book, Winning the Future: A 21st Century Contract with America. (Since the 2011 State of the Union address last month, President Barack Obama has also latched onto the slogan “win the future” as a catchphrase.)

American Solutions for Winning the Future is a so-called 527 committee, named after the section of U.S. tax code that governs it. It is allowed to collect unlimited sums of money from individuals and corporations, and regularly discloses information about its donors to the Internal Review Service.



So-called 527 groups cannot directly donate to politicians’ campaigns, but they can air advertisements and make other expenditures that tout candidates’ stances on issues. Federal court rulings, including Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission and SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission, also overturned rules that prohibited these groups from expressly advocating for or against particular candidates.

Gingrich’s group ranked as the No. 1 such committee during the 2010 cycle in terms of receipts, according to the Center’s research.

During the past two years, his group collected significantly more funds than the leadership PACs of other potential rivals in the 2012 Republican presidential contest.

Gingrich’s group raised more than three times as much money as former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s leadership PAC, about five times as much as the leadership PAC of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and more than eight times as much as the leadership PAC of former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.

Unlike American Solutions, leadership PACs are limited to raising no more than $5,000 per person per year. But leadership PACs are allowed to directly donate to candidates, and they often do.

Some of American Solutions top donors have energy industry interests, as well as business magnates such as Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Sands casino, and James France, the executive vice president of NASCAR.

Adelson is American Solutions’ top donor, giving $1 million during the 2010 election cycle. Eight other individuals, including France, gave between $100,000 and $300,000.

Here is a table of American Solutions’ top individual donors during the 2010 election cycle:

Name Employer Total Sheldon Adelson Las Vegas Sands $1,000,000 Michael Morris American Electric Power $300,000 James France NASCAR $211,200 Stanley Hubbard Hubbard Broadcasting $175,000 Charles Schwab Charles Schwab & Co. $150,000 Terry Kohler Windway Capital $150,000 Fred Sacher Real Estate Investor $135,000 Daniel Heard Unknown $125,320 Rex Sinquefield Retired $100,000

Meanwhile, 11 companies gave Gingrich’s group between $50,000 and $550,000 during the 2010 election cycle. Here is a table of these top 11 corporate donors to American Solutions:

Company Total Donated Peabody Energy $550,000 Crow Holdings $350,000 Devon Energy $250,000 Plains Exploration & Production $200,000 Workforce Fairness Institute $150,000 American Electric Power $100,000 Arch Coal $100,000 Capital Corp. $50,000 Galliano Marine Services $50,000 Lexington Management Group $50,000 Rowley Co. $50,000

Center for Responsive Politics researchers Dan Auble and Spencer MacColl contributed to this report.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

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