News Guide: Cruz trounces Kasich in presidential fundraising

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Kasich, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, the final three Republican candidates running for president, began this month with drastically different campaign fortunes, new fundraising reports show.

In one month, Cruz raised what Kasich has collected over the entire course of his longshot bid. Trump, a billionaire, has raised relatively little money as he "self-funds" his effort.

The presidential candidates — current and former — must file their February campaign finance reports to the Federal Election Commission on Sunday, as they look ahead to the next series of nominating contests — in Arizona, Idaho and Utah on Tuesday.

What we've learned on the money front:

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KASICH MONEY STRUGGLES

Kasich, the Ohio governor and one of three remaining Republican presidential candidates, had about $1.3 million in available campaign cash as this month began.

That's far less than the $8 million in cash that Cruz's campaign had on hand as of the last day of February.

Cruz, a Texas senator, continued to lap Kasich in fundraising. His $12 million in February roughly equals Kasich's entire campaign haul, dating to last summer.

Kasich's home-state win last week convinced him to stay in the race in the hope of emerging as a "consensus candidate" during a contested convention this summer. That could be triggered if Trump does not win enough delegates in the remaining primaries. Kasich has no mathematical path for winning the nomination outright.

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TRUMP FIGHTERS

Three billionaires supplied more than 80 percent of the cash last month for a super political action committee dedicated to derailing Donald Trump. The group is called Our Principles.

February fundraising reports show the Ricketts family — who own the Chicago Cubs and whose patriarch founded TD Ameritrade — gave another $2 million last month, adding to their earlier $3 million investment. Paul Singer, a New York hedge-fund billionaire who backed Rubio, gave $1 million, and Arkansas investment banker Warren Stephens also chipped in $1 million.

The group has reported raising $7.8 million since its inception. FEC documents show the group has spent at least $16 million attacking Trump — so far with little impact. The gap between reported income and expenditures means the majority of the donations to Our Principles arrived this month. Those donors will be disclosed next month.

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GOING BROKE FOR RUBIO

Wealthy donors handed over $25 million last month to an outside group backing then-Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, and the flood of money helped pay for thousands of television advertisements.

It still wasn't enough. Rubio, a Florida senator, ended his bid after an embarrassing loss to Trump last week in his home state.

Conservative Solutions PAC raised about $58 million in support of Rubio since he became a candidate last spring. More than 40 percent of that money arrived in February alone, new fundraising reports show.

Many of the contributions came from donors whose favorite candidates had previously failed. In fact, the pro-Rubio surge was concentrated in the days after one-time rival Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor, dropped out on Feb. 20.

Poultry magnate Ronald Cameron was Conservative Solution's top donor in February, contributing $5 million. Cameron, the chief executive officer of Little Rock, Arkansas-based agricultural company Mountaire, had previously given $3 million to a group backing former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, also once a 2016 presidential hopeful.

The insurance executive Hank Greenberg's C. V. Starr & Company Inc. and Starr International companies gave a total of $5 million to Conservative Solutions. Last year, C.V. Starr gave $10 million to a group backing Bush.

Meanwhile, February also proved to be the Rubio campaign's best fundraising month. It took in $9.6 million and began this month with $5.5 million, although millions of those dollars were tied up for use in a general election that never came.

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CLINTON CAMPAIGN

Hillary Clinton's campaign has improved its rate of low-dollar donations, her February fundraising report shows. She is facing a Democratic presidential primary challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, whose online fundraising in small increments has set records.

About 30 percent of Clinton's individual campaign contributions in February came from people who had given $200 or less to federal candidates in this election cycle. Overall, her small-contribution rate dating to the time she became a candidate, is less than 20 percent. She has recently been increasing the volume of her emailed fundraising pleas that seek contributions of even a few bucks.

Clinton began in March with about $31 million in available cash.

Sanders had not filed his February report by Sunday afternoon.

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CARSON CASH CONTINUED

One hallmark of a failing presidential candidate is the struggle to raise money.

That's why Bush had to lend his campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars last month, fundraising documents show. And it's why New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie appeared to end his bid owing roughly $200,000 more than he had in available cash.

Not so with political newcomer Ben Carson.

The retired neurosurgeon never won — or even came close to winning — any of the early primary contests, and he suspended his campaign at the beginning of this month. Even so, in February he raised $5.7 million, and he had almost $5 million in cash at the start of March, according to his campaign finance documents.

Carson was the top Republican fundraiser of the 2016 contest at the time he dropped out, but he also maintained above-average costs for raising that money.

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The Gayly - 3/20/2016 @ 7:16 p.m. CST