WaPo | A small core of super-rich individuals is responsible for the record
sums cascading into the coffers of super PACs for the 2016 elections, a
dynamic that harks back to the financing of presidential campaigns in
the Gilded Age.
Close to half the money — 41 percent — raised by
the groups by the end of February came from just 50 mega-donors and
their relatives, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal
campaign finance reports. Thirty-six of those are Republican supporters
who have invested millions in trying to shape the GOP nomination contest
— accounting for more than 70 percent of the money from the top 50.
In
all, donors this cycle have given more than $607 million to 2,300 super
PACs, which can accept unlimited contributions from individuals and
corporations. That means super PAC money is on track to surpass the
$828 million that the Center for Responsive Politics found was raised by such groups for the 2012 elections.
The
staggering amounts reflect how super PACs have become fundraising
powerhouses just six years after they came on the scene. The
concentration of fundraising power carries echoes of the end of the 19th
century, when wealthy interests spent millions to help put former Ohio
governor William McKinley in the White House.
