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WASHINGTON — Just two dozen ultra-wealthy donors are behind a surge of million-dollar contributions to the new breed of political committees during the presidential campaign.
Millionaire and billionaire executives have unlocked their personal bank vaults to write seven-figure checks to support the campaigns of Democratic President Barack Obama and the Republicans vying to oppose him: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.
More than half of the $60 million collected so far by the new group of independently run super political action committees supporting presidential candidates came from just 24 wealthy Americans, according to an Associated Press review of financial reports filed by the campaigns. The super-sized checks amount to $33 million, and in some cases, the contributions of $1 million or more represent most of the money that several super PACs have collected.
These outsized donations — more than 40 times the amount ordinary Americans can give directly to a politician — are allowed under the landmark 2010 Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case.
The ruling made it possible for super PACs to raise and spend unlimited sums to support political campaigns. The groups must legally remain independent from the candidates they support, but many are staffed with former campaign aides with intimate knowledge of the campaigns' strategy.
Freed by the Citizens United case and other rulings that allowed unlimited donations with minimal disclosure, the mega-donors are pumping unprecedented amounts of cash to favored candidates. The lavish gifts are stoking negative campaign ad wars and making mega-donors essential to the tactics and operations of the super PACs.
"It's just so much easier for these people to make large contributions and play a much more prominent role than we've tended to see," said Brendan Glavin, a researcher with the Campaign Finance Institute, a Washington-based nonpartisan think tank.
Here's a list of each presidential candidate's wealthiest supporters:
_Even among seven-figure donors, nobody approaches the $11 million that Las Vegas casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his family have given to Winning Our Future, the group supporting former House Speaker Gingrich, which has $13.1 million in total contributions. Adelson gave $5 million; his wife, Miriam, another $5 million. The rest came in smaller, but still sizeable amounts from Adelson's daughters, Sivan Ochshorn and Yasmin Lukatz, and Lukatz's husband, Oren. Gingrich has said Adelson and his family support his strong pro-Israel statements. Adelson has important business interests in China, and his casino is under federal investigation by the Justice Department and a civil probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission for possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The company denies wrongdoing.
_Winning Our Future also gained $1 million from Texas billionaire Harold Simmons, a longtime Republican donor who was a key funder of the Swift Boat veterans' attacks on Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004. Simmons, whose interests range from energy to chemicals, so far has donated $12 million — both personally and through his firm, Contran — to American Crossroads, the Republican-leaning super PAC co-founded by Republican strategist Karl Rove.
_The co-founder of PayPal and an early investor in Facebook, Peter Thiel, has given $2.6 million to Endorse Liberty, the group supporting Texas Rep. Paul. Nearly 70 percent of the group's money comes from Thiel, a Silicon Valley investor. An ardent supporter of Libertarian causes, Thiel has donated to gay rights and religious organizations and also helped fund the Committee to Protect Journalists. His Facebook investment alone is now reportedly worth $1.3 billion.
_The chief executive at DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, has given $2 million to the group supporting Obama's re-election, Priorities USA Action, which accounts for nearly half the group's $4.5 million total. Katzenberg has hosted fundraisers for Obama and has been a longtime funder of liberal and Democratic Party causes.
_Hotel magnates and brothers Bill and Richard Marriott have given $1.5 million to Restore Our Future, the group supporting former Massachusetts Gov. Romney. Bill Marriott heads Marriott International, while Richard Marriott heads offshoot Host Hotels & Resorts. Romney, whose first name is Willard, was named after the Marriotts' father, who was close friends with Mitt Romney's father, George Romney. Mitt Romney also served for years on Marriott's board of directors.
_Julian Robertson, the head of Tiger Management Corp., a major New York-based hedge fund, gave $1.3 million to Restore Our Future. Robertson's son is also a Romney donor, and both have co-chaired Romney fundraisers.
_Other rich executives who gave at least $1 million to help Romney's campaign include Paul Edgerly, a managing director at Bain Capital, and his wife Sandra, who each donated $500,000; Edward Conard, a former Bain executive; Mormon businessman Frank VanderSloot; Paul Singer, founder and CEO of Elliott Management Corp., a top New York-based hedge fund; John Paulson, head of Paulson and Co., another major hedge fund; Bob Perry, a Houston real estate developer; Tulsa businessman Francis Rooney; Robert Mercer, co-chief of Renaissance Technologies, a New York hedge fund; and William Koch, head of Oxbow Carbon, LLC, a fossil fuel processor and mining firm.
_The group supporting former Pennsylvania Sen. Santorum — the Red, White and Blue Fund — collected nearly all its $2.8 million so far from just two major, $1 million contributions. Foster S. Friess, a mutual fund entrepreneur and conservative advocate, is a major funder behind the Daily Caller, a conservative web news aggregator, and has his own website advocating free enterprise and warning about militant Islam. Friess opposed the Obama administration's health care program and gave $100,000 to statewide Republican races and causes in 2008.
_The pro-Santorum group's other $1 million contribution came from William J. Dore, president of a Louisiana energy and real estate firm. Dore backed New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu and other state Democrats, but he has also funded Republican politicians, as well as charities in Louisiana and Texas.
