Isn’t this just wonderful. It’s gonna be really hard for anyone else to keep pace with him…
Via Washington Post:
Jeb Bush’s money juggernaut is far eclipsing the efforts of his would-be rivals for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, putting his two political committees on pace to amass an unprecedented sum of tens of millions of dollars by early spring.
The former Florida governor’s overwhelming dominance in the race to line up financial backers has come at a speed that has impressed longtime Republican money players, who say wealthy party backers have rapidly migrated to Bush since 2012 nominee Mitt Romney decided against another White House run two weeks ago.
At one Manhattan fundraiser for Bush at the Park Avenue home of private-equity titan Henry Kravis this week, about 25 attendees paid a minimum of $100,000 each just to get in the door. It’s one of six events for Bush’s PACs — including one next weekend in Palm Beach — with such a price tag.
“I think they will come up with an eye-popping figure,” said veteran GOP fundraiser Fred Malek.
Bush’s press for dollars has been so intense — averaging one fundraiser a day — that his Republican competitors do not even claim they can compete at his level and acknowledge that he is the unrivaled financial leader.
“Are they raising a lot of money? Yeah,” said Ray Washburne, a Dallas real estate developer who is heading efforts to solicit contributions for Gov. Chris Christie’s new political committee. “We’re in the making-friends stage.”