Big Bucks
Millions for Mitt: Bob Perry, Bob McNair among top donors to Romney campaign
Mitt Romney has received a great deal of money from Texas supporters in hispresidential run.Mitt Romney/Facebook
Houston home builder Bob Perry has donated more than $17 million to Republicanpresidential nominee Mitt Romney's campaignPublicIntegrity.org
Bob McNair, pictured her with wife Janice, gave $1 million the Romney Super PACRestore Our Future last month.Photo by © Michelle Watson/CultureMapSNAP.com
Since the Supreme Court threw out the limits on the amount of money that a individual donor can give to outside groups that support a presidential candidate, Texas supporters of Republican candidate Mitt Romney have opened their wallets in record numbers.
Houston homebuilder Bob Perry has donated more than $17 million to the Romney campaign, according to figures from the Federal Election Commission. The Associated Press reports that Perry has donated $10.7 million to Restore Our Future, the political action committee supporting Romney, and $6.5 million to American Crossroads, the PAC founded by Karl Rove that supports Republican candidates.
Houston homebuilder Bob Perry has donated more than $17 million to the Romney campaign, according to figures from the Federal Election Commission.
In 2004, Perry was a major backer of then-President George W. Bush and donated $4.4 million to the Swift Vets and POWs for Truth campaign in an effort to discredit Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.
In federal campaign figures released Friday, Perry, 80, donated $2 million to Restore Our Future in September. He also gave $1 million to The Club for Growth, a anti-tax PAC that supports conservative candidates.
Also last month, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair contributed $1 million to Restore Our Future. OpenSecrets.org, a non-partisan organization that investigates money in politics, reports it was the first donation McNair has made to the pro-Romney super PAC.
McNair, 75, previously gave $25,000 to Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker to help him fight a recall effort last summer and $75,000 to the Texas Conservatives Fund, a PAC supporting Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst's failed bid for U.S. senator. Last year, McNair donated $100,000 gift to Make Us Great Again, the PAC that supported Texas Gov. Rick Perry in his presidential bid.
Other Houstonians who have been big contributors to pro-Romney PACs include Steven Webster, co-managing partner and co-CEO of Avista Managing Partners, who has donated $1 million to Restore Our Future since last November, and Willam Edward Bosarge, president of Capital Technologies, who has donated $799,000 to American Crossroads and $100,000 to Restore Our Future this year, according to OpenSecrets.org.
OpenSecrets.org, a non-partisan organization that investigates money in politics, reports it was the first donation McNair has made to Restore Our Future.
Three Texans are among the top five Romney supporters in the nation. In addition to Bob Perry, Dallas businessman Harold Simmons, 81, has given $16.1 million and Dallas businessman Robert Rowling, 59, has given at least $4.1 million, according to the Associated Press account.
Simmons owns Contran Corp., a conglomerate that specializes in metals and chemical production and waste management. Rowling's company, TRT Holdings, owns the Omni hotel chain and Gold's Gym among other properties.
Billionaire Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, 79, led the list by giving $34. 2 million to pro-Romney PACs.
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Houston's top donors to President Obama's campaign are listed here.
