Associates of Bain Capital have been the biggest supporters of Mitt Romney. Romney's biggest backer: Bain

Associates of private equity firm Bain Capital, once run by Mitt Romney, have fueled the GOP front-runner’s political fortunes more than any other, asserts a new report by the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation.

In all, current and former executives and family members of Bain Capital have contributed more than $2.7 million to Romney’s state and federal campaigns, leadership political action committees and Massachusetts gubernatorial inauguration fundraising committee, as well as the independent Restore Our Future super PAC backing Romney’s White House bid, according to the report.


Bain Capital-related contributions easily outpace those of people and entities associated with Romney’s other top political patrons, including Marriott hotels, Nu Skin Enterprises and hedge fund Paulson & Co.

The report states that the Bain Capital-related totals do not include the more than $55.5 million that Romney has either personally contributed or loaned to his various electoral committees. Nor does it include the “more than $200,000 from employees and family members of two of Bain’s more successful companies — Staples and Domino’s Pizza — that Romney has cited on the campaign trail.”

The Sunlight Foundation mined federal campaign finance data from the Center for Responsive Politics and state campaign finance data from the National Institute for Money in Politics in producing its report. It also examined Internal Revenue Service filings from state-level 527 organizations as well as published reports of donors to Romney’s inaugural committee.

Romney, who enjoys commanding momentum in the GOP presidential nomination race, has nonetheless struggled to convince voters that he created jobs and economic opportunities for middle-class Americans during his Bain Capital tenure.

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich roundly criticized Romney’s work at Bain, before largely dropping the issue after facing criticism himself for it.

Pro-Gingrich super PAC Winning Our Future, however, this week launched a multi-million dollar ad campaign in South Carolina that in part slams Romney’s Bain involvement, and it’s released a 27-minute documentary that highlights people who lost their jobs because of Bain shutting down their companies.

GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry, meanwhile, has continued attacking Romney as engaging in “vulture capitalism” that would “destroy people’s lives” during his time at Bain.

But Romney has enjoyed support from broadcasters such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, as well as former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who’ve painted attacks on Bain as being anti-capitalist.