Political Money Sleeps During Holiday Weekend

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Money took a break this weekend.

After furiously spending about $5.1 million for the April 3 primaries in Maryland and Wisconsin, super PACs took a break through the Passover and Easter holidays with upcoming Republican primaries still two weeks out.

Meanwhile, presumed GOP nominee Mitt Romney took a four-day beach break to celebrate the weekend with his family in California, while Rick Santorum cancelled political events during the weekend and remained with his daughter Bella in a hospital.

"Rick and his wife Karen have taken their daughter Bella to the hospital. The family requests prayers and privacy as Bella works her way to recovery," Hogan Gidley, Santorum's communications director, wrote in a statement. Santorum's daughter has a severe genetic disorder.

Romney's campaign on Monday pulled a negative television ad from Pennsylvania "out of deference to Sen. Santorum's decision to suspend his campaign for personal family reasons," Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in a statement, according to ABC News.

Campaign spending hasn't been completely silent as Romney's team purchased $2.9 million worth of advertising time in Pennsylvania -- Santorum's home state -- according to The Wall Street Journal.

The last reported super PAC spending came on April 4 by Priorities USA Action, the PAC backing Barack Obama, which made a $272,026 media buy to oppose Romney, according to ProPublica's PAC Track.

Santorum has said that Pennsylvania is a must-win contest for his campaign, but with less than $2 million in cash left on hand it appears that the former Pennsylvania senator is in a difficult position to try and defeat Romney there.

-- Written by Joe Deaux in New York.

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