Mitt Romney’s Deep Pockets
He’s the only wealth-tapping candidate left in the field
BY Josh Israel AND Sarah Laskow | February 04, 2008
With the winnowing of the presidential field, Republican Mitt Romney is the only remaining contender who has donated or loaned money to his own campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings made available last week.
Romney has loaned his campaign more than $35 million, leaving him in a class by himself. Eight other candidates in the 2008 presidential field made loans to their own campaigns: Republicans John Cox ($1 million), Tommy Thompson ($196,000), Duncan Hunter ($50,000), and Jim Gilmore ($2,000) and Democrats Dal LaMagna ($349,000), Tom Vilsack ($148,000), and Mike Gravel ($73,000). Gravel remains a candidate but has no delegates.
Four Democrats made contributions to their own campaign committees: Dennis Kucinich ($10,321), Chris Dodd ($4,600), Bill Richardson ($2,300), and LaMagna ($2,100). Republican Fred Thompson gave his campaign a $500 donation and then followed it up, a little more than a week later, with another $25.