NEW YORK — (CNN) In theory, Carly Fiorina should be one of the best fundraisers in the Republican field.
She was the breakout star in CNN’s Republican debate on Wednesday, the second straight contest in which she’s distinguished herself. She’s the former CEO of a major company and she’s well-connected in donor-rich California.
But she has a problem: The money hasn’t followed the hype — yet.
“Buzz tends to turn on the money spigot, and she’s clearly getting a lot of buzz out of last night,” said Kenneth Kies, a longtime Republican bundler and lobbyist. “But it’s probably not enough to fuel the tank to get you through to February.”
Buoyed by two consecutive widely praised debate performances, Fiorina is expected to surge in the next round of public opinion surveys. But party insiders say her next challenge will be to convert that goodwill into hard dollars that can drive votes come next winter
Despite her deep connections to the conservative movement in Washington and to the moneyed class of Silicon Valley, Fiorina’s campaign had only $1 million on hand as of this summer (roughly the same amount as Rick Perry, who has since dropped out of the race due to financial problems.) The former Hewlett-Packard executive took in about $1.7 million in the first two months of her campaign, less than every other Republican candidate she shared the stage with on Wednesday.
And her super PAC, which can collect checks of unlimited size, only hauled in $3.5 million, a smaller sum all the more harmful given the candidate’s unusual dependence on the outside group. Almost half of that money came from one of the party’s biggest donors, Jerry Perenchio.
She’ll face an early test: Fiorina’s campaign will have only two weeks to capitalize on Wednesday’s performance before needing to file new numbers with election officials. But her supporters — along with top, unaligned GOP fundraisers — say the narrative is about to change.
“My emails are going crazy today,” said Karolyn Dorsee, who is organizing a San Diego fundraiser for Fiorina but hasn’t committed to help her exclusively. “If my little world here is any indication, she is on fire.”
Her world likely isn’t — Fiorina’s first reports reveal that she drew heavily from the deep well of California donors, something she may need to broaden to make a serious run for the GOP nomination. But even top moneymen working for other campaigns said they expected the new Republican star to give their fundraising shops a run for their money, predicting that she could post mammoth returns in the final two weeks of what is traditionally a sleepy quarter.
There were already immediate signs on Thursday that donors were watching CNN’s debate closely. Stanley Hubbard, a Minnesota billionaire and a top backer of struggling Wisconsin governor Scott Walker, said he planned to give the maximum he could to Fiorina’s campaign, $2,700 (though he said the only super PAC he’d give to would be Walker’s.)
“Maybe she’s another Margaret Thatcher. She’s terrific,” said Hubbard, who is also cutting new $2,700 checks to Chris Christie and Marco Rubio. “We think they’re breakthrough people.”
Hubbard is part of a network of top-flight donors organized by Charles and David Koch, who surprisingly extended an invitation to Fiorina to address their millionaires as an exclusive conference this summer. That coveted speaking slot gave the Californian a chance to win over some of the biggest GOP whales, who could easily write seven-figure checks to Fiorina’s super PAC.
That group has perhaps gone further than any other outside group at taking the place of a traditional campaign. The super PAC, christened CARLY for America, is often times confused in reports with the official operation, Carly for President. The super PAC officials travel with the candidate as she barnstorms the country and helps the businesswoman collect endorsements from early-state officials.
But it has struggled to reel in large donations beyond Perenchio, convincing only a handful of Republican donors to give six-figure amounts to the group. (The super PAC supporting Jeb Bush’s bid, for instance, raised 30 times the amount than did Fiorina’s.) The group’s second biggest donation came from a separate super PAC bankrolled by billionaire Republican Bob Mercer, but Mercer is expected to overwhelmingly back Fiorina rival Ted Cruz, whom he originally gifted $11 million.
Fiorina loyalists say that Wednesday night’s debate means more big-money backers are en route.
“I don’t know if she really has a chance to win, but I like seeing her in these debates,” said Orlando executive Richard Lee, who gave the group $25,000 in April despite originally pledging to not get involved in the primary. “After last night, she should probably be able to do better.”
That’s the thinking of many Republican donors, who like Hubbard and Mercer, are supporting Fiorina as a “side bet” in a 16-candidate field. Some of the biggest names in Republican politics appear on Fiorina’s campaign-finance reports, but with small dollar amounts next to her name. They may envision her as a pitbull against the Democratic nominee — “she’d eat Hillary Clinton alive,” said Hubbard — or as a worthwhile investment in the party that has been attacked by Democrats as waging a “war on women.”
And while Hubbard’s $2,700 could be a token of more to come, top fundraisers point out that candidate cannot wage a campaign entirely on the back of a super PAC (Perry’s group raised more than $17 million, but his cash strapped campaign lasted 100 days.) Candidates tend to spend months building professional fundraising operations that can systematically collect maximum checks from dozens of their associates, and top bundlers say that doesn’t bloom overnight.
“Will people go out of their way to call their friends?” asked David Beightol, a top bundler for Mitt Romney who is now raising money for Bush. “If she has those tools in place, she could do really well. If she doesn’t, she might get a lot of little donors — and that won’t hurt — but to make a difference she’s going to have some big donors too.”
Fiorina friends say she is fine being underestimated as a fundraiser — arguing that both of the past two debates are evidence that she’ll beat expectations.
“She believed that at first, no one would take her seriously. Then, that she’s nice to have there,” said super PAC donor Phil Lebherz, an ally from California.
Lebherz said she’s now taking the third step: “And then she’s a threat.”
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