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Utah No. 2 in Romney contributions

And California is proving seriously golden for GOP's top fund-raiser

April 14, 2007
By Lisa Riley Roche

So far, Utahns have contributed more to GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney than residents of any other state except California, according to new financial reports released Friday.

"Utah is a natural base of support for Mitt Romney," said Kelly Patterson, director of Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy. "The more connections you have with people, the easier it is to rely on them for support."

And Romney, unlike any other White House contender, has plenty of Utah ties.

He led the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City from scandal to success before being elected governor of Massachusetts for a single term — and, like most Utahns, he is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"The LDS connection is significant," said Kirk Jowers, director of the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics and a Romney supporter. "His candidacy has activated individuals who maybe never before have contributed to a campaign."

Not just in Utah, either, Jowers said, noting top-ranked California is also home to a large number of Mormons. "California is the golden state for Romney. It has a sizable LDS component, a lot of money and a lot of people," he said.

Romney and the other major presidential candidates of both parties had announced last month how much they have collected in the first quarter of the year. The first Federal Election Commission filings of the presidential campaign, providing details of the earlier announcements, are due by midnight tonight.

Utah is "a huge part of the Romney fund-raising plan," Jowers said. "The first quarter of fund-raising is always where you go to your known supporters. Romney is beloved here for his Olympic leadership."

So it's no surprise that a significant chunk of the more than $23 million raised by Romney in the first three months of the year came from Utahns, including some $2 million by late February when Romney held fund-raising events in Salt Lake City and St. George.

Information released by the campaign showed that Utah trailed only California in total dollars raised, followed by Massachusetts, Texas, Michigan, New York, Florida, Arizona, Ohio and Connecticut.

Romney campaign officials did not provide a state-by-state breakdown of money raised.

Just how much cash was collected in Utah was not immediately available from among the more than 36,000 donations reported to the FEC in the first filing of the presidential campaign season. Almost 20,000 of those donations were less than $200 and were not itemized.

A look at the 30 pages of campaign receipts shows more than $40,000 raised from Utahns named Gardner, including the maximum allowable contribution of $2,300 from both famed Olympic wrestler Rulon Gardner and developer Kem Gardner, a longtime friend of Romney's.

The name Huntsman is there, too, but not the name of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who supports a Romney rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain. The governor's father, Jon Sr., and brother David, along with their spouses each gave $2,300.

Earl Holding and his wife list their address as Wyoming on their contributions to Romney, but Utahns know him as the head of a hospitality-resort empire that includes Utah's Grand America Hotel and Snowbasin ski resort.

Even former Salt Lake County Council member Steve Harmsen, who recently hosted a fund-raiser at his Federal Heights home for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, gave. Same for radio station executive David Simmons, who hosted a similar event for McCain.

Romney bested both Giuliani, widely seen as the current front-runner for the GOP nomination, and McCain when it came to total dollars raised. While Romney led the Republican candidates with $23 million, Giuliani had $15 million and McCain, $12.5 million.

However, Romney has spent more than half of his campaign money, leaving him with $11.9 million in cash on hand. Giuliani has $10.8 million in the bank, according to FEC filings. McCain, who had not yet filed his FEC report, is expected to show a high spending rate and a significantly smaller amount in the bank than Romney or Giuliani.

More telling of Romney's overwhelming support in Utah is that he took in more than $1 million from the fund-raisers he held here, compared to more than $150,000 for McCain and some $200,000 for Giuliani.

Giuliani counted only a smattering of Utahns among his nearly 10,000 contributor entries. Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne gave $2,300 and former Salt Lake mayoral candidate Molonai Hola, $1,000.

Jeff Garbett contributed $750 — enough, he said, to get him and his brother into Giuliani's March 30 fund-raiser even though the advertised price was a minimum of $1,000 a plate. Still, he said he hasn't made up his mind who he'll support.

Garbett, 26, said he's looking at both Giuliani and Romney, "as of right now. But it's early."