AP Reports: American Crossroads, the Republican “super” political committee that plans to play a major role in this year’s presidential campaign, raised more than $51 million along with its nonprofit arm last year, The Associated Press has learned.
The figures from Crossroads – the group backed by former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove – are among the first financial reports being made public Tuesday, the deadline for super PACs and presidential candidates to file financial reports with federal election officials. The Crossroads PAC alone has about $15.6 million cash on hand – a sizable figure as it prepares to hit the airwaves this year to help defeat President Barack Obama.
The financial strength of Crossroads underscores the extraordinary impact super PACs could have on this year’s race for the White House. In GOP primaries so far, groups working for or against presidential candidates have spent roughly $25 million on TV ads – about half the nearly $53 million spent on advertising so far to influence voters in the early weeks of the race.
Crossroads’ financial reports, which the AP obtained ahead of the Federal Election Commission, identify wealthy donors who had given contributions reaching as high as seven figures by the end of 2011. Among the largest contributors is Dallas businessman Harold Simmons, who gave the group $5 million last November and whose holding company, Contran Corp., donated an additional $2 million.
Simmons is a major donor to GOP and conservative causes who pumped as much as $4 million into the “swift boat” campaign that helped sink Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry in 2004. Simmons, an early supporter of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential run, also was a fundraising “bundler” putting donations together for Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Read More: Associated Press
