Pro-Romney ‘Super PAC’ Spent $14 Million in January

Original Link: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/pro-romney-super-pac-spent-14-million-in-january/

By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE

A “super PAC” supporting Mitt Romney blew through $14 million on a three-state advertising binge against his Republican rivals in January, according to campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday.

But the super PAC, Restore Our Future, also raised close to $7 million during the same month, and began February with more than $16 million in the bank, money that has helped pound Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum and may help restore momentum for Mr. Romney as the “Super Tuesday” round of Republican contests next month approaches.

Still, the heavy spending by Restore Our Future highlighted the difficult political terrain for Mr. Romney in January, when he lost the South Carolina primary to Newt Gingrich before pulling off a victory in Florida later in the month, helped in part by multimillion-dollar ad campaigns by the Romney campaign and the Super PAC.

While Restore Our Future took in donations as small as $5, close to $5 million raised by the super PAC came from just 25 individuals and corporations, each giving between $100,000 and $500,000.
Three individuals gave half a million dollars apiece: Joseph W. Craft, an Oklahoma mining executive; Bruce Kovner, a billionaire hedge fund founder from New York; and David Lisonbee, the founder of a Utah vitamin supplements company.

The group also received further donations from some past donors: Harold C. Simmons, a Texas billionaire who has already donated millions of dollars to Republican super PACs; members of the Marriott and Walton families, founders of the Marriott hotel and Wal-Mart chains, respectively; and Julian Robertson, a retired hedge fund manager.

Restore Our Future also received money from several corporations, some not easily connected to a specific executive or even business. Select Management Resources, a Georgia-based limited liability corporation, gave $100,000; the company appears to have registered to lobby on banking and credit card issues in Nebraska.

Another donor is RTTTA, LLC of Provo, Utah, where state records list the company’s registered agent as J. Todd Rawle, a Romney donor and an executive at a company that makes check-cashing and pay-day loan software

JTC Holdings, a California limited liability company registered by Justin Chang, a real estate executive at Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, gave two contributions totaling $20,000. Mr. Chang previous donated to Restore Our Future and to Mr. Romney under his own name.