Giuliani Reports Skyscraping Early Money Total for White House Bid

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has led the long list of 2008 Republican presidential contenders in early preference polls — and his perceived position as the front-runner, at least for now, was not contradicted by his recent campaign finance report, which shows he has already built a sizable treasury.

Giuliani’s campaign reported total first-quarter receipts of $16.6 million, which included a $1.85 million transfer from the presidential “exploratory” committee he established last November.

With total receipts of $18 million for his campaign to date, Giuliani leads all but three of the current crop of White House hopefuls — Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, and Republican Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor — in overall campaign receipts.

Giuliani ended the quarter with $11.9 million left to spend. All but about $1.1 million of Giuliani’s funds were raised for the nominating campaign, with the rest for possible use in the general election should he win the nomination.

Giuliani’s report includes numerous donations that highlight his ties to New York, the nation’s most populous city, which Giuliani headed as mayor from 1993 through 2001.

As an example, Giuliani received contributions from about 30 employees of Lehman Brothers, the large financial services firm that is headquartered in New York.

Giuliani is a longtime fan of baseball’s New York Yankees, who happened to win four World Series titles during his eight years as mayor. Several team executives, including principal owner George Steinbrenner, gave to Giuliani’s presidential campaign.

This profile of Giuliani’s report is the latest in a CQPolitics.com series that is analyzing the first-quarter campaign finance filings of all 19 Democratic and Republican candidates.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani

• Receipts, Jan. 1 to March 31: $16.6 million

• Receipts to date: $18 million

• Expenditures, Jan. 1 to March 31: $5.7 million

• Expenditures to date: $6.1 million

• Cash-on-hand, March 31: $11.9 million

• Debts, March 31: $89,000

Notable individual donors (who are allowed to contribute $2,300 to a candidate for a primary campaign and $2,300 for a general election campaign)

• John F. Antioco, chairman and chief executive officer of Blockbuster: $2,300

• Richard D. Beckman, president of Conde Nast Media Group: $2,300

• Brian Cashman, general manager of the New York Yankees baseball team: $2,300

• Miguel Estrada, a partner at the firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher and an unsuccessful nominee for a federal judgeship in 2003: $2,300

• Alan D. Feld, a senior executive partner at the firm Akin Gump: $2,300

• John Grant, professional staff member for the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee: $250

• Keith Hernandez, sports broadcaster and a former professional baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Mets and Cleveland Indians: $1,000

• Michael D. Hess, a founding partner and senior managing director of Giuliani Partners LLC and Giuliani’s former corporation counsel during his mayoral tenure: $4,600

• John O’Hurley, actor: $4,600

• Susan Molinari, chairman and chief executive officer of The Washington Group and a former House member from New York (1990-97): $1,900 (Molinari also gave Giuliani’s campaign $2,100 in late 2006, bringing her contributions to $4,000)

• Theodore B. Olson, partner at Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher and a former U.S. solicitor general: $2,500 (Olson also gave Giuliani’s campaign $2,100 in late 2006, bringing his contributions to the maximum of $4,600)

• Adam Sandler, actor: $2,100

• Charles R. Schwab, chairman and chief executive officer of Charles Schwab Co.: $2,300

• Ben Stein, an author and actor who served as an aide to presidents Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford: $750

• George Steinbrenner, principal owner of the New York Yankees: $4,600

• Chad Sweet, chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security: $4,600

• James S. Turley, chairman and chief executive officer of Ernst & Young: $2,100

Candidate committees and political action committees (PACs)

One of Giuliani’s strongest supporters in Congress is California Republican Rep. David Dreier, who donated $2,300 through his House campaign committee and another $5,000 through another political committee, American Success PAC.

Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Charlie Dent, who represents the 15th District in and around Allentown and Bethlehem, donated $2,300 through his political committee, Dedicated to Establishing National Teamwork PAC, which forms an acronym of the congressman’s last name.

Among his political supporters at a more grassroots level is West Virginia state Sen. Vic Sprouse, whose campaign committee gave Giuliani’s campaign a $1,000 contribution.

Notable expenses

Giuliani’s campaign reported spending $897,000 on payroll to 82 individuals. Other expenses included $225,000 on postage — including a payment of $167,000 to the Austin, Texas-based firm Olsen & Shuvalov. Giuliani’s campaign also spent more than $116,000 on catering.

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