Money men: Who are top 5 donors to Romney?

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON For a casino mogul worth an estimated $25billion, $34.2 million may sound like chump change. Yet that's how much money Sheldon Adelson has donated so far to aid Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and organizations supporting Romney this election, making him the donor of donors for the GOP.

Other top donors giving millions of dollars to aid Romney's campaign include Texas money moguls and the head of an energy conglomerate.

Political donations can open doors that are closed to most people. Big-dollar donors are often invited to state dinners at the White House and other events with the president.

Based on an examination of more than 2.3 million campaign contributions The Associated Press has ranked the top five financial supporters bankrolling the Republican presidential run:

No. 1

Sheldon Adelson, 79, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino empire.

Total: $34.2 million

Adelson is the largest declared donor to the Romney campaign and supporting political committees, providing more than $34.2 million this election season. He and his wife, Miriam, have given $10 million to Restore Our Future, a super PAC backing Romney. Adelson also joined relatives to give $24million to committees backing former GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. And he has made public pledges vowing to give as much as $100million this election more broadly to the GOP. He would benefit from loosened trade restrictions.

No. 2

Harold Simmons, 81, owner of Contran Corp., a Dallas-based conglomerate worth an estimated $9 billion that specializes in metals and chemical production and waste management.

Total: $16 million

Simmons is a longtime backer of GOP and conservative causes. He has donated $16 million to the party's efforts this year, including more than $11million to American Crossroads and $800,000 to Restore Our Future. Simmons also gave $2.2 million to Super PACs backing former GOP presidential candidates Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Rick Perry. He also owns a majority stake in Valhi Inc., a Texas-based waste management company, and could benefit from a proposed Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule change that would allow the company's Texas facility to store spent uranium from nuclear power plants.

No. 3

Bob J. Perry, 80, head of a Houston real estate empire worth an estimated $650 million.

Total: $15.3 million

Perry has given about $15.3million to aid the Romney campaign and allied causes so far this election season. Long active in Texas and national GOP politics, Perry donated nearly $9 million to Restore Our Future and a total of $6.5 million to American Crossroads. Before backing Romney this year, Perry gave $100,000 to the super PAC backing Texas Gov. Rick Perry (no relation).

No. 4

Robert Rowling, 58, head of Dallas-based TRT Holdings.

Total: $4.1 million

Rowling has given at least $4.1 million to Republican Party and candidates this election. Most of his donations, $4 million, went to Rove's American Crossroads, both through personal donations and through his firm. Rowling also has given $100,000 to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future super PAC. Rowling's holdings are worth an estimated $4.8 billion and include Omni Hotels, Gold's Gym and Tana Exploration, his family's oil company.

No. 5

William Koch, 72, an industrialist whose South Florida-based energy and mining conglomerate is worth an estimated $4 billion.

Total: $3 million

Koch has given $3 million to the Restore Our Future, including a $250,000 personal donation and $2.75 million through his corporation, Oxbow Carbon LLC, and a subsidiary, Huron Carbon. Unlike his brothers, who are longtime supporters of Republican and conservative causes, Bill Koch has funded both GOP and Democratic Party candidates in the past. Koch's corporate interests have repeatedly battled against what company officials have decried as government interference. Oxbow spent $570,000 last year on lobbying in Washington, mostly aimed at mining, safety issues and climate change.

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Liberal Donors’ Plan Worries Top Democrats

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, and other officials conveyed concern that Democratic candidates could be at a disadvantage if the contributors, many of whom had stayed on the sidelines of the 2012 campaign until now, decide not to spend money on television ads that push back against a torrent of attacks from conservative “super PACS” in the presidential election and Congressional races.

The views highlighted concerns about being outgunned by outside groups raising huge amounts of money to back Republicans, and suggested a rift between Democratic leaders and some liberal donors.

“The idea that these progressive groups are essentially re-creating the wheel is perplexing and troubling,” said David Krone, the chief of staff to Mr. Reid. “Why go off and build a redundant grass-roots and get-out-the-vote organization that the Obama campaign is clearly invested in?”

The Democratic officials were responding to an article in The New York Times on Tuesday that the financier George Soros and other major donors had decided to avoid a head-to-head confrontation in television advertising by pro-Republican groups and would instead spend money registering new voters and building stronger turnout organizations.

Mr. Krone, who is not involved in super PAC operations that are trying to keep the Senate majority in Democratic hands, and other advisers said television advertising was the most powerful way to win races. Democratic strategists have spent months trying to lure Mr. Soros and other donors into the fray of election spending.

“Why would they rule out this tried-and-true medium?” Mr. Krone said on Tuesday. “I can guarantee the Republicans are covering all bases and will have a coordinated plan.”

The criticism from Mr. Reid’s top adviser, which was echoed in interviews with party leaders, highlighted the lingering tensions and frustrations in the Democratic Party over the influence of outside money on the campaign and the inability of Mr. Obama’s supporters to raise substantial sums for a pro-Obama super PAC. Wealthy Republicans have made contributions at record-setting levels, while many wealthy Democrats have shied away from giving.

The decision by Mr. Soros and like-minded donors to help finance independent Democratic groups drew disdain from several Democratic officials. A senior party leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid alienating the donors, said: “They don’t get it. What they are doing makes no sense.”

Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, declined to comment on Mr. Soros’s plans. But many liberal donors, including Mr. Soros, have raised objections to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which opened the door for super PACs and unlimited campaign spending. They say they did not believe they could match the Republican groups, so they wanted to try a different approach and back several liberal groups rather than put their financial muscle behind a single effort.

A spokesman for Mr. Soros, Michael Vachon, said financing the grass-roots groups made more sense because liberal groups could not compete with the “floodgates to special interests’ paying for political ads.”

The acrimony among the Democrats — Mr. Soros and many party leaders, including Mr. Obama, are often at odds — could have a real effect on the campaign. Democratic candidates at all levels have expressed concerns about not having the firepower to respond to conservative groups like Crossroads and Americans for Prosperity. And the decision by Mr. Soros and other donors to direct their money to grass-roots efforts revived memories from the 2004 presidential campaign when the Democratic get-out-the-vote effort was largely outsourced and widely seen as ineffective.

The Democratic infighting, which is likely to intensify, comes as Mr. Obama’s campaign is spending $25 million this month to broadcast his first major television advertising campaign.

Mr. Vachon, the spokesman for Mr. Soros, declined to comment on the criticism from Mr. Reid and other Democrats.

But aides to some of the liberal groups that will receive some of the $100 million dismissed the criticism and said the Obama campaign and party leaders simply wanted to have control over donors.

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Gay Donors, Key Group for Obama, to Plot Strategy in Washington

Hundreds of leading gay donors will travel to Washington in late April to plan strategies and marshal financial commitments for state and federal elections around the country, according to people with knowledge of the meeting.

The conference, one of the largest ever gatherings of gay donors, is being organized by the Gill Action Fund, one of the country’s leading gay political organizations, which has played a quiet but pivotal role at the state level in recent years on gay marriage and other issues, including working to defeat lawmakers who oppose gay marriage. The fund is keeping quiet the details of the gathering, hoping to shield potential donors from unwanted scrutiny or attacks from opponents, and a spokesman for the fund declined to comment on the plan on Tuesday.

But the conferences comes as gay donors are rapidly becoming one of the most pivotal sources of campaign cash in next fall’s elections, with some groups and donors shifting their sights on the presidential and Congressional races after years of fighting against ballot initiatives outlawing gay marriage and advancing the issue in states like New York and Maryland.

A growing number of the top “bundlers” — volunteers who gather checks from friends and business associates — to President Obama are gay men or women, a constituency Mr. Obama has avidly courted in recent months as he seeks to find new sources of large donations to finance his re-election campaign. A “super PAC” supporting Mr. Obama, Priorities USA Action, is also avidly courting gay donors, as traditional sources of large checks, including Wall Street, prove more resistant to appeals.

Mr. Obama pushed successfully last year to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule barring openly gay men and women from serving in the military, while his administration has ceased to defend constitutional challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federal recognition of benefits for same-sex couples.

But he also faces a day of reckoning over gay marriage, which he opposes but which is the top priority of many gay rights organizations. Many of his top supporters in the gay community are pressuring Mr. Obama to change his position, which aides to the president have signaled are “evolving.” Gay rights advocates, backed by a growing number of Democratic lawmakers, are also pushing to have support for gay marriage added to the party’s official platform later this year.

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Democrats, Donors, Clintons: Everyone's Mad at Weiner (The Atlantic Wire)

After Rep. Anthony Weiner apologized for his digital indiscretions, she demanded, "How can you explain that somebody can be so smart but so stupid?" The outraged woman on the phone call was not Weiner's wife, but Rep. Nydia Velázquez, a fellow New York Democrat. Her reaction reflected the shock and anger many of Weiner's Democratic colleagues felt as the congressman spent the day after his humiliating press conference apologizing to them, The New York Times' Michael Barbaro and David W. Chen report. Some House Democrats worry that more embarrassing revelations are still to come. If Weiner stays in his seat, he will do it without many allies, as his donors, colleagues, and even the Clintons are mad at him.

While Republicans have called on Weiner to quit, so far most Democrats have not done so explicitly. But they're not defending him either: When asked whether Weiner should resign, Velázquez responded by saying, "The most important thing in this business is credibility." Likewise, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "I wish there was some way I can defend him, but I can't." Bill Clinton, who is close to Weiner's wife, an aide to Hillary Clinton, is "deeply unhappy" with Weiner's behavior, the Times reports. The Hill's Mike Lillis reports that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is especially annoyed, having promised in 2006 to "drain the swamp" following several embarrassing scandals, including Mark Foley's dirty instant messages to congressional pages. And Weiner doesn't have many allies to talk down angry colleagues: A former aide to House Democratic leaders told Lillis, "There was no Anthony Weiner base."

More worrisome for Weiner: some Democrats have talked to former city councilman Eric Gioia to see if he'd be interested in launching a primary campaign against Weiner. Gioia is open to the idea. Though the 2012 election is a ways off, the House ethics investigation into Weiner's conduct could last several months, keeping the memory of the scandal fresh for any opponent to capitalize on.

Weiner's campaign donors are furious because Weiner assured them that the underwear Twitter photo that started it all was the product of a "vast right-wing conspiracy." He assured them "Everything is going to be fine." One donor said, "I'm just hoping this doesn't get worse."

Still, Weiner hasn't budged. When surprised by reporters Tuesday night, Weiner again insisted he's not going to quit.

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Democrats, Donors, Clintons: Everyone's Mad at Weiner (The Atlantic Wire)

After Rep. Anthony Weiner apologized for his digital indiscretions, she demanded, "How can you explain that somebody can be so smart but so stupid?" The outraged woman on the phone call was not Weiner's wife, but Rep. Nydia Velázquez, a fellow New York Democrat. Her reaction reflected the shock and anger many of Weiner's Democratic colleagues felt as the congressman spent the day after his humiliating press conference apologizing to them, The New York Times' Michael Barbaro and David W. Chen report. Some House Democrats worry that more embarrassing revelations are still to come. If Weiner stays in his seat, he will do it without many allies, as his donors, colleagues, and even the Clintons are mad at him.

While Republicans have called on Weiner to quit, so far most Democrats have not done so explicitly. But they're not defending him either: When asked whether Weiner should resign, Velázquez responded by saying, "The most important thing in this business is credibility." Likewise, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "I wish there was some way I can defend him, but I can't." Bill Clinton, who is close to Weiner's wife, an aide to Hillary Clinton, is "deeply unhappy" with Weiner's behavior, the Times reports. The Hill's Mike Lillis reports that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is especially annoyed, having promised in 2006 to "drain the swamp" following several embarrassing scandals, including Mark Foley's dirty instant messages to congressional pages. And Weiner doesn't have many allies to talk down angry colleagues: A former aide to House Democratic leaders told Lillis, "There was no Anthony Weiner base."

More worrisome for Weiner: some Democrats have talked to former city councilman Eric Gioia to see if he'd be interested in launching a primary campaign against Weiner. Gioia is open to the idea. Though the 2012 election is a ways off, the House ethics investigation into Weiner's conduct could last several months, keeping the memory of the scandal fresh for any opponent to capitalize on.

Weiner's campaign donors are furious because Weiner assured them that the underwear Twitter photo that started it all was the product of a "vast right-wing conspiracy." He assured them "Everything is going to be fine." One donor said, "I'm just hoping this doesn't get worse."

Still, Weiner hasn't budged. When surprised by reporters Tuesday night, Weiner again insisted he's not going to quit.

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