Now that he has mostly self-banked his way into becoming the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump is turning into every other politician and holding out his palm for cash.
The latest numbers from the Federal Election Commission reveal what the Donald is up against. As of June 30, Trump had raised $37 million in direct contributions. Hillary Clinton brought home six times that much — $228 million. Their cash balances going into July? Clinton had $44 million, Trump $20 million.
Of course, Trump lagged because Republican seed capital was divided up among 17 candidates, and Trump insisted on paying his own fare. With the likes of Ted Cruz and John Kasich out of the picture, the bigger money is already flying, four months ahead of the November election. The bulk of it is taking the form of contributions to political action committees, the political parties and super PACs.
Still, it seems odd that more people didn’t see fit to send Trump a few bucks while he was loaning himself millions. In the portions of Southwest Ohio with ZIP codes starting with 452xx, for example, Trump received a trifling $6,058 through May 31 — even less than the $10,510 ponied up by Northern Kentuckians in 410xx ZIP codes. One month later, Trump crossed the $24,000 threshold in Ohio’s 452xx region, thanks in part to $2,700 handouts from Margaret Lafley, ex-wife of ex-Procter & Gamble CEO A.G. Lafley, and Harold Sosna, owner of Premier Health Care.
David Niven, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati, says Trump begins his one-on-one campaign against Clinton at a severe disadvantage.
“It takes fundraising effort on the part of the candidate and it takes a campaign infrastructure — and he hasn’t had either of those things,” Niven says. “I think he can continue doing what he’s done in the last month — raising his cash on hand from $1.2 million to $20 million — but every step of the way, he’s going to be behind Hillary in fundraising, unless there really are billions in his bank account and he’s willing to spend some of it.”
Ohioans, so far in the 2016 election cycle, gave $8.1 million to Republican presidential candidates and $4.3 million to Democrats through June 30. But more than half of the Republican haul went to Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Trump, with $262,852, barely out-raised Jeb Bush in Ohio and received about a third of the amounts raised by Marco Rubio and Ben Carson. Clinton has received $2.9 million in direct contributions from Ohio, or 10 times Trump’s take.
Republican Party leaders in Ohio expect Trump to kick into fundraising gear now that he’s their official nominee for the White House.
“Traditional Republican donors are going to come on board,” says Alex Triantifilou, chairman of the Hamilton County GOP. “In Ohio, a lot of those traditional donors worked for John Kasich but are pivoting over to the Trump effort.
“At the grass roots, there’s a tremendous energy for Donald Trump. I met with a bunch of donors in Cincinnati, and they want me and others to support the nominee.”
At a fundraiser earlier this month, Triantifilou said a “six-figure” dollar amount was raised for Trump.
Butler County, a Republican bastion, wants to join the effort.
“We’re going to have a fundraiser and a rally for him,” says Brenda Burer, office coordinator in the county’s Republican headquarters in Fairfield Township. “I think people will start contributing knowing that everything’s in place. People are coming in and they’re giving us contributions to help out the cause.”
The Trump machine isn’t waiting for the local grubfests to loosen up more cash. In a recent mailer in to Cincinnati-area residents, the Trump Make America Great Committee — a fundraising vehicle authorized by Trump and the Republican National Committee — recipients are told they can give up to $38,800, most of which would go to the RNC.
In the letter, Trump says he “can’t do it alone.” A year ago, when he announced his candidacy, he scoffed at the notion of taking donations.
“I’m using my own money,” he said at the time. “I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich.”
The flood of political contributions down the stretch will help the candidates pay for expensive TV advertising, staffing and get-out-the-vote efforts. Mega-sums have already been received by super PACs that support or oppose the candidates.
Trump attracts the most money from those groups, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Groups supporting him have received $57 million, including $50 million from a super PAC called Get Our Jobs Back, headed by the born-again scam artist Steven Hoffenberg. Hoffenberg spent more than a decade in prison for defrauding investors out of $475 million in the 1990s in what the Securities & Exchange Commission called one of the “largest Ponzi schemes in history.” He is working down his debt to his victims.
Groups that oppose Trump have raised even more — $71.2 million.
Pro-Clinton PACs have raised $17 million, compared with $9.8 million booked by opposition PACs. She has also received $100 million from the liberal super PAC Priorities USA Action. ©
This article appears in Jul 20-27, 2016.
