Gingrich Raises $4 Million
Politico reports:
Newt Gingrich’s political groups raised nearly $4 million from July through September — a total that dwarfs that of other prospective 2012 GOP presidential hopefuls, but one that comes with a big asterisk.
The bulk of the money raised by the former House speaker, who has insisted he is seriously eying a 2012 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, came through a political group registered under a section of the tax code — 527 — that allows it to accept unlimited donations from wealthy individuals and corporations.
That gives Gingrich a big advantage over other possible Republican White House hopefuls who use as their primary political vehicles federal political action committees that are barred from accepting contributions from corporations and can only accept contributions from individuals in amounts capped at $5,000 per year.
Gingrich’s 527 group, American Solutions for Winning the Future, in the third quarter accepted contributions of $300,000 from the coal giant Peabody Energy, $150,000 from an executive at Ohio’s American Electric Power and $100,000 from investment magnate Charles Schwab.
American Solutions' mission is advocating for less government spending and regulation, but it has come under fire for promoting the interests of its donors, including by opposing legislation to limit carbon emissions, and also for financing a shadow political operation for Gingrich.
It spent $3.7 million in the third quarter, including several thousand dollars on “major donor gifts” from Amazon.com. But the bulk of its spending went toward funding a 20-plus-person staff, polling, a slick Web presence and Gingrich and his staffers’ travels around the country. For instance, in the third quarter, the group spent nearly $410,000 on charter jet airfare.
That type of political infrastructure is considered essential to laying the foundation for a presidential bid. However, none of American Solutions’ cash could be spent directly on a Gingrich presidential run.
This year, it’s brought in a total of $9.9 million, more than the PAC fundraising of Gingrich’s next three most active fundraising potential rivals for the nomination. According to reports filed this week, former Gov. Massachusetts Mitt Romney’s PACs raised a total of $5.1 million this year, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s PAC brought in $2.5 million, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s groups raised nearly $2.1 million.
But their PACs, unlike Gingrich’s 527, can donate directly to like-minded candidates, allowing them to make allies in key states that could potentially help them should they declare their own campaigns.
Gingrich also maintains a political action committee called American Solutions PAC, but it had raised only $137,000 in July and August, ending that span with $133,000 in the bank (its report covering September isn’t due until next week). In those two months, American Solutions PAC contributed a paltry $1,000, all of which went to a Republican congressional candidate in Iowa named Brad Zaun.
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