Republican fundraising for 2016 presidential race off to a slow start
At this time in the last presidential election cycle, top donors for Mitt Romney were quietly building the invisible network that would vault him to the nomination and raise more than $1 billion for his 2012 effort. Nothing like that is happening this year, as the 2016 contest looms.
While a few potential presidential candidates have quietly met with major party donors over the last year and five of them mingled informally last week with potential bundlers at Romney's annual three-day political retreat in Park City a number of donors say they are surprised that their phones haven't been ringing.
"Usually people get out early. But it's not happening," said Al Montna of Yuba City, Calif., a rice farmer who was an early member of Romney's 2012 finance network. And in many cases, donors here in Park City said they were fine with that because they are in no rush to take sides.
Donors "want to make the right choice," Montna said. "It's a very important time. People want to be successful, and I think that's why they are waiting to see what's going to develop."
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http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-gop-donor-mood-20140615-story.html