Ted Cruz, in his outsider’s bid for the White House, has depended heavily on the largesse of just three wealthy donors to establish credibility and stay afloat amid a chaotic nominating process that killed off most of his rivals. Now, at perhaps the most desperate moment in his quest to win the Republican nomination, Cruz is learning the perils of relying on strong-willed magnates who carry their own agendas and have demanded an unprecedented level of control in how their money is spent.
One of the three primary donors to Cruz’s presidential efforts, a private equity manager who recruited the other two top donors, has refrained from spending the vast majority of his $10 million contribution to bolster the Cruz campaign. He is instead fighting openly with the top strategist for the super PACs that were set up to spend the money.
The man at the center of the fight, Toby Neugebauer, is a close friend of Cruz and his wife, Heidi. Neugebauer and his own wife have vacationed with the Cruzes, and he still counts himself a major supporter. But he has refused to spend $9 million of the $10 million he put into a super PAC.
“He was going to go up with ads in October or November. That came and went, and then he said he’s saving it for Super Tuesday,” said Kellyanne Conway, who oversees a network of super PACs supporting Cruz.
Cruz campaign focuses on the only way he can win: Convention delegates
“I don’t know if he’s having a $10 million party in Cleveland, or what. It became apparent almost immediately that his money wasn’t really there.”
Neugebauer, though, said he was alarmed by the profligate spending of other super PACs that spent vast sums on candidates who flamed out. He said he is relieved to have set up a strategy where he and two other major donors dictate how their money is spent.
“How we set up in these big PACs was a response to how unhappy people were in 2012,” he said in an interview. “Trust me, all the other big donors wish their PACs were set up the same way.”
After Citizens United and other court decisions opened the door to nearly unlimited campaign donations, many donors became frustrated with the control they surrendered to campaign consultants, who blew through millions of dollars on TV ads in a fruitless effort to elect Mitt Romney in 2012. This year, an outside group supporting former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush spent more than $100 million from big donors in a disastrous endeavor that saw Bush falter as soon as the first primary voters went to the polls.
To counter the risk of a repeat of 2012, Neugebauer, the son of Texas Rep. Randy Neugebauer, helped set up three super PACs last year to support Cruz, each using a variation of the name Keep the Promise — one for each major donor. The groups, forbidden by law to communicate with the Cruz campaign, planned to divvy up responsibilities for aiding his candidacy.
But that strategy proved unwieldy, and the super PACs united in early March under the name Trusted Leadership PAC to raise more money. Neugebauer, however, has yet to come aboard. He complained that the political consultants remain addicted to buying negative television ads, a strategy that has proven particularly ineffective against the star power of front-runner Donald Trump. Neugebauer said he has instead pressed for positive ads placed in social media, but has been rebuffed.
“There were some political consultants, especially the establishment’s favorites, who didn’t know they were extinct,” Neugebauer said. “People are going to be looking for a completely fresh set of talent.”
Neugebauer said he would not start spending money on Trump during the primary but declined to disparage Trump’s credentials for office, as many other Cruz backers have done.
“Ted and I are close friends. I am going to support the nominee. I’m not ‘Never Trump,'” he said, referring to the effort among some Republicans to deny Trump the nomination. “I think all that talk is just disgusting and shows a complete lack of understanding of what the middle class is going through in America. I want those voters for Ted in November.”
If the other two donors are frustrated that the man who helped recruit them to the effort appears to be bailing on it, they have not said so publicly. Neither Robert Mercer, who has donated $13.5 million to help Cruz, nor Farris Wilks, who along with his family donated $15 million, agreed to be interviewed or responded to written questions submitted to their representatives. The Cruz campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Conway said the division of labor among the funders was “baked in the cake from the beginning” and that Neugebauer knew his money was to be used for television ads. The other super PACs, she said, were concentrating on contacting voters directly, sending direct mail, radio ads and digital advertising campaigns.
“The guy could be a hero,” Conway said. “He could be a white knight right now.”
Poster Comment:
The Cruz campaign will die today in Indiana. Ted shut down in Indiana and went to California. Sorry, Ted. You are down 34% in California. Too bad.