Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s $24 million 4th quarter fundraising haul was more than the total amount of money raised by rival Newt Gingrich’s campaign for all of 2011.
That allowed Mr. Romney’s campaign to combine with the pro Romney Super PAC “Restore Our Future” to outspend Mr. Gingrich and his supporting Super PAC by a 5 to 1 ratio in the week leading up to the Florida Republican primary election on Tuesday.
The majority of ads run by the former Massachusetts governor in Florida were negative ads, aimed at attacking Mr. Gingrich. According to Huffington Post, Mr. Romney and his Super PAC combined to spend nearly $9.9 million on ads aimed at attacking Mr. Gingrich during the week that lead up to the Florida primary on Tuesday.
Massachusetts based “Romney For President Inc.” filed its year end report with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday, which showed that out of the $24 million they raised in the 4th quarter, they had $19.9 million in cash heading into January.
In contrast, Mr. Gingrich’s FEC year end report shows that he raised $9.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, and entered January with $2.1 million in cash. That shows that Mr. Romney and his Super PAC combined to spend more money on advertising in Florida than Mr. Gingrich was able to raise in the last three months of 2011, and they started January with a $17 million lead on Mr. Gingrich in terms of cash on hand.
After Mr. Gingrich derailed Mr. Romney in South Carolina with his own negative ads, and the 28 minute mini movie “King of Bain,” Mr. Romney retaliated in the week leading up to the Florida Republican primary.
Florida is one of the more expensive states for running ads, but Mr. Romney’s 4th quarter fundraising allowed him to dominate the airwaves with ads attacking Mr. Gingrich. The former House speaker’s campaign and the pro Gingrich Super PAC, “Winning Our Future” only spent a combined $4 million on advertising for the Florida primary race.
Additionally, Mr. Romney’s 4th quarter fundraising is a preview of his fundraising power going forward. In contrast to his $24 million 4th quarter, his chief rival Mr. Gingrich relied mostly on large donations from wealthy Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. Thus far, Mr. Adelson reportedly has donated more than $10 million to “Winning Our Future,” which allowed the Super PAC to produce “King of Bain” and many other negative ads that helped Mr. Gingrich win South Carolina.
The Bain Capital co-founder has not had to rely on one particular wealthy source of income. In addition to his own FEC filing, “Restore Our Future” reported in its own FEC filing receiving large sums of money from a wide base of donors, pledging combined sums of up to $1 million in some instances.
“Winning Our Future,” the pro Gingrich Super PAC spent the bulk of his contributions from Mr. Adelson on advertising in South Carolina, leaving them with not as much to spend for the Florida primary.
Going forward after the Florida Republican primary election, it will be interesting to see how Mr. Gingrich is able to deal with the large ad spending advantage that Mr. Romney still has.
