Led by Stryker, big Obama donors push his super PAC past Romney's for August
Cliff Burnstein, Metallica manager and Obama donor.
12:29 pm Sep. 21, 2012
After months of lagging behind, Priorities USA, the super PAC supporting President Obama, outraised its counterpart backing Mitt Romney in August.
Priorities raised just over $10 million, compared to $7 million for Restore Our Future, the Romney-sanctioned super PAC.
The jumpstart included some help from a few familiar New York donors.
Jon Stryker, the billionaire architect and philanthropist, gave two more donations of $500,000, to bring his total for the cycle up to an even $2 million.
Clifford Burnstein, the longtime manager of Metallica and scores of other big bands, gave another $100,000, after giving $100,000 in July.
There were some new donors too, most notably James H. Simons, the billionaire former hedge fund manager, who gave $2 million, and John Vogelstein, a vice chairman at Warburg Pincus, who gave $100,000.
The co-creater of Sesame Street, Joan Ganz Cooney, also gave for the first time, to the tune of $50,000.
Priorities spent nearly all the money it raised last month, leaving it with about $4.8 million in cash on hand. Restore Our Future spent $21 million in August, leaving it with $6.3 million on hand.
The uptick in Priorities' fortunes mirrors the overall campaign, as Obama's campaign has shown a resurgence in its fund-raising strength, while Romney struggles to find more big donors.
