2016 campaign cash flowing to Clinton and Bush

In this July 14, 2015, photo, Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during a meet and greet event in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The 2016 presidential contest is barely underway, and already donors have poured some $377 million into it, an Associated Press review shows. Bush’s money looks different. Before he officially declared his candidacy he spent the first six months of the year raising huge sums of money for Right to Rise, a super PAC that’s boosting his bid to win the Republican nomination. That group says it has raised a record $103 million. Bush’s presidential campaign, which officially began on June 15, collected $11.5 million from contributors. Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, has raised $45 million in checks of $2,700 or less for her campaign. Priorities USA Action, a super PAC that counts on seven-figure donors, raised an additional $15 million. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik) In this July 14, 2015, photo, Republican presidential candidate former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during a meet and greet event in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The 2016 presidential contest is barely underway, and already donors have poured some $377 million into it, an Associated Press review shows. Bush’s money looks different. Before he officially declared his candidacy he spent the first six months of the year raising huge sums of money for Right to Rise, a super PAC that’s boosting his bid to win the Republican nomination. That group says it has raised a record $103 million. Bush’s presidential campaign, which officially began on June 15, collected $11.5 million from contributors. Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, has raised $45 million in checks of $2,700 or less for her campaign. Priorities USA Action, a super PAC that counts on seven-figure donors, raised an additional $15 million. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

By Associated Press July 16, 2015 4 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The major parties’ top presidential candidates in the fundraising race – Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Jeb Bush – are collecting cash in the huge amounts needed to fuel the extensive political organizations they are building for the 2016 campaign.

Their financial backers have poured more than $176 million into their campaigns and the super PACs specially designed to boost them.

Clinton’s campaign is spending money at a rapid clip, according to initial fundraising reports filed Wednesday with federal regulators. The former first lady and front-runner in the Democratic race has paid out 40 percent of the $47 million in donations that she amassed by the end of June, employing some 364 people and building infrastructure across the country in preparation for next year’s general election.

Bush, the former Florida governor and son and brother of ex-presidents, spent more than one-quarter of the $11.4 million in fundraising that he collected in the final 16 days of June, according to the reports. The campaign invested heavily in payroll and policy consulting.

The Federal Election Commission reports cover financial activity between April 1 and June 30, a period when almost all of the 22 presidential hopefuls jumped into the race, and list the names of everyone who gave at least $200. The maximum contribution for the primary is $2,700.