RGA Announces Fundraising Record

July 2, 2012

The Republican Governors Association raised $16.7 million in the second quarter of 2012, bringing its fundraising total for the year to $29 million. For the election cycle beginning January 2011, the RGA has raised more than $73 million. The fundraising figures are nearly twice the amounts raised at the end of the second quarter in 2008, the last comparable election year.  The totals also exceed the amount raised by the RGA at the midway point of 2010, a year when 37 governors’ racing were taking place. They do not include any money that has been raised into the RGA’s 501(c)4 affiliate.*

“Thanks to Scott Walker’s historic victory last month and the RGA’s strong fundraising, there is no doubt that the political momentum is on Republicans’ side ahead of key governors’ races this November,” said RGA Chairman Bob McDonnell.  “With record resources and a favorable political map that includes critical battleground states and many pickup opportunities, the RGA is prepared to make a major impact on this year’s elections and expand our majority.”

“The RGA’s fundraising success is a direct result of the transformational leadership being provided by Republican governors as well as their commitment to the RGA,” McDonnell added.  “Every Republican governor has played a major role.”

*Note: At the end of the first quarter, the Democratic Governors Association announced raising $8 million, but subsequent tax filings revealed that the DGA’s real fundraising haul was $6.6 million. The DGA had attempted to inflate their totals by including money allegedly raised into an affiliated 501(c)4. There are a number of problems with the DGA’s accounting sleight-of-hand:

  1. The RGA and DGA have long had 501(c)4’s, which are legally separate entities with different tax ID numbers and thus in the past have not been used when tallying either organization’s fundraising totals. The RGA has not and did not count any 501(c)4 money when announcing our fundraising totals.
  1. There are many more restrictions on how 501(c)4 money can be spent. Consequently, it makes sense that 501(c)4 and 527 money be reported separately by both RGA and DGA.
  2. 501(c)4s report annually, so there is no way to verify a501(c)4’s fundraising on a quarterly basis.
  3. The 501(c)4s’ 2012 fundraising totals are not due to be reported publicly until May 2013.

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