Getty Bush lent $250K to failing campaign

Jeb Bush lent his spiraling campaign a quarter-million dollars in the last month of his presidential run.

Bush will probably be able to recoup some of the $250,000, as his campaign can continue to raise money as it winds down. The campaign ended Feb. 20 with $465,000 left in the tank but almost as much debt ($452,000), according to its latest Federal Election Commission filing.


Bush, who swiftly profited from investments and board seats after leaving the Florida governor’s mansion, also contributed almost $157,000 to the campaign in February, bringing his total contributions to his own effort to more than $545,000.

Between his own loan and contributions, Bush accounted for a full third of the campaign’s $1.2 million haul in February.

Among his eleventh-hour backers were Steve Wynn, the casino tycoon; megadonor Foster Friess; Shell oil executive Marvin Odum; Louis Rohl, head of a California luxury fixture seller; Jose Mallea, a consultant to the campaign and a former aide in Bush’s brother’s administration; and Richard L. Wyatt, a litigator at Hunton & Williams in Washington.

Chris Christie’s campaign finished the month with $287,000 cash on hand and $485,650 in debt after raising $419,600 and spending $874,000 in February, according to its FEC report.