RNC has raised more than $110 million over the past 15 months

July 31, 2016

By Talia Ralph

Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate and former governor of Massachussetts, acknowledges the audience of the Republican National Convention at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota, on September 3, 2008.
Emmanuel Dunand

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has raised more than $110 million over the past 15 months, coming back from near-bankruptcy, the New York Times reported.

Although the Democratic National Committee (DNC) fundraised $137 million in the same period, the RNC has more cash on hand than their Democrat counterparts, according to Slate. The RNC said it will report $30 million in cash on hand in their filings to the Federal Election Commission at the end of this month, including $22 million in a "presidential trust" for their nominee.

The RNC owes at least some of its newfound fundraising power to outside forces (such as super-PAC American Crossroads founded by Karl Rove) who have taken over the traditional roles of attacking the president with commercials, allowing the Committee to focus on rebuilding its donor base, according to the Times.

The Republican committee's chairman, Reince Priebus, has brought its' 2011 funding from major donors back up to 2003 levels, officials told The Times. The RNC small-donor program routinely brings in more money than the Democratic committee’s, though far less than President Obama’s campaign, The Times reported.

“The RNC is the only organization that can spend money directly on the ground game and organizing the states,” Alfred Hoffman Jr., a former finance chairman of the committee, pointed out to the Times. “A super PAC can’t do that.”

As of next week, Mitt Romney will begin raising funds with the RNC, shifting its focus from the primary campaign to the general election, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The move will allow donors to increase their donation amounts to $75,000, compared to the $2,500 limit for individual donations to a presidential campaign, Slate explained.

Critics have argued that the RNC has helped shift the GOP primaries in Romney's favor, an allegation that the RNC has denied but is nonetheless taking very seriously, Politico reported.

“The chatter is that the fix is in, and that’s created a great deal of consternation,” Michael Steele, former RNC chairman, told Politico. Steele said he’s been approached “very quietly” by about ten of the RNC’s elected members, who have expressed misgivings “about the influence that the Romney campaign seems to have in dictating the terms of what the RNC is going to do and how it is going to follow the rules.”

Despite the supposed RNC slant towards Romney, Santorum has vowed to stay in the race, according to Slate.

Will you support The World?

The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?