Ohio cash flowing Romney's direction

Apr, 18, 2007
Jonathan Riskind and Jack Torry, Dispatch Staff Writer
The Columbus Dispatch

Topics: Federal Campaigns, Federal Government, Voting and Elections

Aided by major financial backers of President Bush, Republican Mitt Romney is the early 2008 presidential race fundraising champ in Ohio.

The former Massachusetts governor has reaped about $478,000 from Ohio givers, according to figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics from first-quarter Federal Election Commission reports.

Romney trails in the polls, but as in Ohio, his fundraising nationwide has far outstripped his GOP foes.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani took in about $85,000 from Ohio contributors as of March 31, while GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona got nearly $75,000 from Ohio donors.

On the Democratic side, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama outpaced New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Obama has raised more than $316,000 from Ohioans, compared with Clinton's $232,000.

Despite Romney's impressive fundraising nationally and in Ohio, he still trails in the polls behind Giuliani and McCain.

In Ohio, his backers include a number of major GOP givers from the Cincinnati area, including businessman Carl Lindner, a big bucks supporter of Bush. Contributions to Romney from Lindner family members surpassed $45,000, according to the center's database.

Others who were part of an extensive Cincinnati-area Bush fundraising network now giving to Romney include businessmen Richard Farmer and Mercer Reynolds -- although Reynolds also gave $2,100 to Giuliani.

Michael Horvitz, an attorney with the Cleveland law firm Jones Day, contributed $2,000 to Obama. When asked why he wrote that check, Horvitz jokingly replied, "You know what the secret to happiness in life is? Do what your wife tells you to do."

"At this stage of the campaign, everything is uncertain, and he seems to be a candidate who has potential and ought to have a chance to get his story told," Horvitz said. "We were eager to try and help him."

Former Democratic Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina nearly matched Clinton in the Buckeye State, getting more than $220,000, according to the figures compiled by the nonpartisan center. Long-shot candidate Dennis J. Kucinich, a U.S. House member from Cleveland, received about $5,200 from fellow Ohioans.

Like Reynolds, several Ohio donors gave money to multiple candidates, a relatively common practice early in a presidential-election cycle. Stanley Chesley, a prominent Cincinnati attorney, contributed $4,600 to Clinton and $2,000 to Obama. Raymond T. Sawyer, who served as chief of staff to former Gov. Richard F. Celeste, gave $1,000 each to Clinton and Edwards and $500 to Obama.

The list of donors included some of the best-known business and political people in the state. Richard Jacobs, former owner of the Cleveland Indians, gave $2,100 to Romney, as did John McConnell, chairman and CEO of Worthington Industries and majority owner of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mike Brown, owner of the Cincinnati Bengals, gave $2,300 to McCain.

Samuel H. Miller and Albert Ratner, co-chairmen of the board of Forest City Enterprises of Cleveland, one of the major real-estate-development companies in the United States, were responsible for a large number of contributions.

Miller gave $4,600 to Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., D-Del., and $2,300 to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Ratner and family members, many of whom work at Forest City, contributed $28,400 to Richardson.

At least one donor is expressing second thoughts. Gerald Austin, who managed Celeste's winning 1982 gubernatorial campaign, gave $1,000 to Edwards. But he changed his mind about Edwards after the revelation that Elizabeth Edwards is suffering a recurrence of breast cancer. In particular, he objected when John Edwards said that while he loves his wife, he has "a responsibility to this country" to continue his campaign.

"It wasn't necessary for him to talk about how important it was for him to be president," Austin said. "I know you have to be possessed to run for president, but sometimes possession is not nine-tenths of the law."

In the Columbus area, Obama eclipses all candidates, including Romney. Central Ohio givers have handed over more than $97,000 to Obama, who held a Feb. 26 fundraiser at 1 Miranova Place hosted by Larry and Donna James. Giuliani was a distant second with about $32,000 from central Ohio contributors.

Clinton has received about $24,000 from Columbus-area supporters, while Romney has gotten less than $18,000, Edwards about $16,000 and McCain about $8,000, according to the center's figures.

jriskind@dispatch.com

jtorry@dispatch.com

Copyright 2007, The Dispatch Printing Company. Used with permission.
 
 
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