Purchasing Election Power

Amy Keller | 11/1/2007

Last March, nearly 20 months before Election Day 2008, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney triumphantly announced that he’d secured Fort Lauderdale businessman Wayne Huizenga’s backing for his presidential campaign. The endorsement by the Miami Dolphins owner — a rock star in the world of CEOs — was a coup for Romney, who just one month earlier had announced a team of 77 businessmen and lawyers joining his Florida statewide finance committee. It was also a sign of just how heated the race for business support is among this crop of presidential candidates.

FLORIDA FUNDS: Presidential candidates have raised a total of $19.1 million in campaign cash in the state of Florida through Sept. 30, 2007, according to the Federal Election Commission. Democrats have raised $10.1 million, while Republicans have hauled in nearly $9 million in the sunshine state. The individual breakdown by candidate is as follows:
Candidates
Hillary Clinton (D)	$4,785,342
Rudolph Giuliani (R)	$3,526,826
Barack Obama (D)	$2,853,204
Mitt Romney (R)	$2,659,849
John McCain (R)	$1,679,210
John Edwards (D)	$1,320,507
Bill Richardson (D)	$616,955
Fred Thompson (R)	$518,481
Ron Paul (R)	$303,988
Joseph Biden (D)	$294,421
Christopher Dodd (D)	$274,194
Sam Brownback (R)	$84,540
Mike Huckabee (R)	$72,653
Tommy Thompson (R)	$56,700
Thomas Tancredo (R)	$44,680
Dennis Kucinich (D)	$16,303
Duncan Hunter (R)	$12,450
Mike Gravel (D)	$8,140
John Cox (R)	$1,815
James Gilmore (R)	$1,000
Source: Federal Election Commission

Endorsements by business leaders can help boost a candidate’s credibility on economic issues. And, of course, the value of a business executive’s support doesn’t start and end with a campaign contribution, which are limited to $2,300 per person per election, or $4,600 for the primary and general. Much more important for the candidate is the link to a broader donor pool in the form of the executive’s personal and professional networks.

The dollars add up quickly: Presidential candidates raked in more than $19 million in Florida through the end of September, according to the Federal Election Commission, making Florida third in the nation for raising campaign cash behind New York and California.

Florida Trend recently examined thousands of campaign contribution records to see which White House hopefuls Florida’s top business executives are supporting. While Romney has Huizenga, Hillary Clinton’s got Miami developer Jorge Perez. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, has his own team of heavy hitters, including New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and NASCAR executive Brian France.

More than a dozen business leaders are hedging their bets. Sugar industry executives Alexander and Alfonso Fanjul, for example, have written checks to both Clinton and two of her Democratic opponents, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd. Other business leaders — like Vector Group CEO Bennett LeBow and George Feldenkreis, CEO of Perry Ellis International — are writing checks to candidates from both parties.

The donors highlighted here are typically high-ranking executives affiliated with Florida’s top private and public companies or the top 25 Florida law firms in the state, as ranked by Florida Trend’s Top Rank Florida. We’ve focused on the six candidates who had raised at least $1 million in the Sunshine State through September.

» Next page starts lists of the top six presidential candidates in Florida who have raised at least $1 million. Each lists names top contributors and their businesses. First up: Hillary Clinton.

Tags: Politics & Law, Government/Politics & Law