Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’s leadership PAC, the Reclaim America PAC, boldly lists its motto as “electing conservatives to the United States Senate.” But despite raising more than $1.6 million in the 2012 cycle, less than five percent of that money went to other political candidates.
Rubio, elected to the Senate in 2010, registered his leadership PAC in August 2011. In a video announcing the committee, Rubio told supporters the it aimed to “help and assist like-minded candidates who want to come here and serve in the House, in the Senate, or maybe even in the White House to make a difference for America’s future.”
While his official Senate website biography boasts that he is “proud to represent Florida in the U.S. Senate where I’m working to fulfill my promise to restore fiscal discipline,” Rubio’s leadership PAC spending hardly seems disciplined. Out of $1,688,086 in receipts, Reclaim America reported spending over $370,000 on political consultants, more than $256,000 on fundraising expenses, and upwards of $450,000 on administrative overhead, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
That did not leave much for the PAC’s alleged purpose of electing more conservative Republicans: less than $78,000. This total just under $2,400 in independent expenditures, $15,000 sent to his party’s Senate campaign committee, money earmarked raised specifically for and transferred directly to other campaigns, and just five $2,500 donations to Senate candidates. While Senate Republicans had been expected to make gains in the 2012 elections, they ultimately lost two seats.
Watch Rubio’s solicit contributions for his leadership PAC:
(The National Journal has more here.)
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