Although Mitt Romney all but officially clinched the Republican presidential nomination in the Texas primary last week, he has yet to win the hearts — and campaign contributions — of the state’s wealthiest and most reliable GOP supporters.
According to a
Dallas Morning News analysis of campaign finance reports, Romney — who began a two-day swing through Texas on Tuesday — has so far been unable to connect with the donors from Houston’s and Dallas’ most expensive neighborhoods who supported Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential bid.
Of 372 donations Romney received from Dallas’ exclusive neighborhoods, only 10 were from supporters who gave to Perry’s campaign, the newspaper reported.
The pattern was repeated in Houston’s upscale precincts.
After quitting the race in January, Perry endorsed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and discouraged his contributors from giving to Romney, a Perry associate told the newspaper.
But now with Gingrich out of the race, and Perry on board with Romney, campaign officials believe the elite contributors from Dallas and Houston will step up.
“In those ZIP codes, there were a number of people very loyal to the governor. And once he was gone and Newt was gone, we started raising money,” Ray Washburne, co-chair of Romney’s Texas finance team, told the Morning News.
“Right now in this area, it’s a very target-rich environment to raise money.”
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