Hillary Clinton Super PAC Struggles to Raise Money
The super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid is struggling to raise money and now expects to collect only about $15 million through the end of June, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The group, Priorities USA Action, is shaking up its senior staff in hopes of jump-starting a fundraising operation that, five weeks after Mrs. Clinton entered the presidential race, has garnered only about $5 million in “hard commitments,” two people familiar with events say.
As a super PAC, Priorities is permitted to collect donations of unlimited size, and is the main fundraising vehicle backing Mrs. Clinton outside her campaign. It intends to buy TV and Internet ads aimed at propelling her candidacy and to defend her against potential rivals in either party.
Even if it meets its $15 million short-term expectation, the pro-Clinton group will raise far less than PACs backing some potential Republican rivals. Super PACs backing Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) say they have raised more than $31 million, and all-but-announced candidate Jeb Bush, while not giving a fundraising tally, has said his team has broken all prior GOP fundraising records.
Those candidates, however, are more likely to need the financial support for what has already become a crowded GOP primary field, whereas Mrs. Clinton so far hasn’t drawn a substantial primary challenger.
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People close to Priorities mention several reasons for the disappointing fundraising results to date. They said fundraising began in earnest only after Mrs. Clinton announced her candidacy on April 12. Advisers to the group said it was hard to get substantial commitments before then, because donors weren’t certain she would enter the race.
Another handicap has been a perceived ambivalence from Mrs. Clinton about the role of super PACs in American politics, said some people close to the group. When she entered the race, Mrs. Clinton said one of her main goals as president would be doing away with what she called “unaccountable” money in the political system. She has said she wants Supreme Court justices who would overturn the high court’s 2010 ruling in the Citizens United case, which gave rise to super PACs raising money in unlimited sums.
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http://www.wsj.com/articles/money-woes-for-clinton-super-pac-1432168562
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