Rick Perry Has Knack for Raising Funds

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The pockets of Texas Gov. Rick Perry's campaign fund are deep, and thanks to 204 "mega-donors" his pockets are even deeper.

A watchdog group found in a July study that 204 donors who each gave $100,000 or more cushioned Perry's coffers with $51 million (he raised $102 million total) for his state campaign committee between 2001 and 2010.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry knows how to raise campaign money.

Some 921 people appointed by the governor to state agencies, boards and commissions between January 2001 and February 2010, accounted for about $17.1 million given to Perry's campaigns, according to a report by Texans for Public Justice.

Perry's largest donation in that time span was $4 million from the Republican Governors Association PAC, but the biggest commitment by an individual was some $2.5 million from Bobby and Doylene Perry, who aren't related to the Texas governor. Bobby Perry owns one of Texas' largest home-building companies.

Finance, insurance and real estate sectors contributed the most combined money through those years with about $22.2 million. The energy, natural resources and waste sector was third at about $14 million, a little behind the "other/unknown" category.

Harold C. Simmons, known for initiation of a controversial radioactive waste project in West Texas, forked over $1.1 million to Perry's campaign committee. The dump takes out-of-state nuclear waste. Simmons owns Valhi (VHI), which deals in chemicals, component products, waste management and titanium metals.

If anything, the report shows that Perry has friends in high, influential business positions, and that he's familiar with how to finance a campaign.

-- Written by Joe Deaux in New York.



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