Mitt Romney has regained fundraising favor among his former private equity colleagues, according to a peHUB analysis of Federal Election Commission records. The former Massachusetts governor had fallen behind both Barack Obama and Rudy Giuliani in Q2, but roared back in Q3 with $71,100 from 43 private equity pros (data after jump).
Q3 runner-up Chris Dodd raised $60,500 from 28 pros, including $34,500 from 18 members of Apollo Management and its Apollo Investment Corp. affiliate. Obama placed show with $55,185 from 36 PE pros, while Hillary Clinton ($53,350) and Giuliani ($33,045) rounded out the top five.
Going into the quarter, some pundits had speculated that PE pros would flock to Republicans, as all Democratic candidates but Dodd had pledged to change the tax treatment of carried interest from capital gains to ordinary income (i.e., raise PE pro taxes from 15% to 35%). But Democrats easily held their ground. If you remove Dodd from the equation, GOP candidates only outgained Democrats $124,645 to $112,715. And Dodd may ultimately fall onto his party’s side of the fence, which would represent a clear Democratic lead.
Romney leads all presidential candidates in 2007 fundraising with $394,500, in large part thanks to a monster first quarter that included dozens of donations from Bain Capital and H.I.G. Capital. Next up is Obama with $211,385, followed by Giuliani with $148,345 and and Clinton with $135,740.
Data:
Donation by individual: Q3_Individuals2.xls
Q3 donations by candidate: Q3Totals.xls
If you do not receive this within five minutes, please try and sign in again. If the problem persists, please
email: subscriptions@peimedia.com.