Ron Paul’s fund-raising base is as unconventional as his candidacy.
Like his presidential rivals, he taps his home state of Texas for a good portion of his cash. But for the most part, he gets his contributions from locales that are off the beaten fund-raising path.
That’s the beauty of his small-dollar funders, who are spread across the nation but managed to deliver $16.1 million to Paul so far this cycle. Forget about fancy New York City events for the Texas congressman — his campaign is fueled by online ‘moneybombs’ and runs on Internet contributions. It’s rooted in a mindset, rather than a metro area.
Paul’s big-money friends tend come from Texas, the state that Paul calls home. Houston, Dallas and Austin top the hopeful’s overall list of most lucrative ZIP codes, along with a clutch of geographies that host America’s high-tech industry.
Here’s a guide to the congressman’s money map, a listing of his top ZIPs for contributions through the end of February:
Austin
In the last election cycle, Paul just about won Austin’s money race, clearing $370,000 in the ‘787’ ZIP code through February 2008 — less than Rudy Giuliani, who collected about $420,000 from the Texas capital.
Paul’s hasn’t done as well in the state’s capital city this time around — he raised just $270,000 through the end of February — but he still managed to outpace the field with the exception of Gov. Rick Perry, who raised more local money than the rest of the field combined.
Houston
America’s energy capital helps power Paul’s presidential bid.
The Texas congressman took almost $240,000 from greater Houston through February, a performance on par with 2008, when Paul raised about $220,000 from the city over the same period.
A big reason he does so well there is that it’s his home turf: Paul’s House seat — the 14th District — skirts the city’s exurbs.
Houston was also generous to Perry. Until last July, the city was giving to presidential candidates at a slower clip than in 2008. Once the governor jumped into the race, contributions spiked by more than $1 million in just a few weeks.
Perry’s presence didn’t have a significant effect on Paul: He’s been mining the city for about $25,000 per month since June, even in the face of the Texas governor’s surge.
Dallas
Dallas was a dry hole for Paul last summer, giving him just $31,000 between July and September.
Maybe it was Perry fever: The governor shook more than $1 million from the city over seven weeks while Paul scrounged a total of eight checks worth $1,000 or more.
But in October, as Perry fortunes began to turn for the worse, metro Dallas began to smile on Perry. In one span early that month, Paul raised $40,000 in a matter of days.
Still, while the congressman’s Dallas haul runs north of $160,000 through February, it’s 25 percent below what he raised there four years back.
Seattle area
Techies love Ron Paul.
ZIPS in Kirkland and Bellevue, Wash., both a mile from Microsoft HQ in Redmond, gave $15,000 and $14,000 to the campaign. Redmond itself? $11,000 in donations.
Those aren’t the only tech-heavy places giving to Paul. One ZIP near Menlo Park, California, gave $17,000 to Paul. Nearby Los Altos was also good to him as was Austin, Texas (see above), home to Dell and a vibrant start-up scene.
The top giver to Endorse Liberty PAC, Paul’s unlimited money vehicle? Peter Thiel, a San Francisco hedge fund magnate who made his first pile when he founded PayPal.
Lake Tahoe
Las Vegas is the only Nevada city of note when it comes to heavyweight fund-raising.
Paul, however, taps a vein to the north of Sin City — the shores of Lake Tahoe, affluent Incline Village and nearby Reno suburbs, filled with moneyed enclaves of California refugees.
Paul was popular here in 2008 as well — back then, his campaign collected more than $20,000 from the 89511 ZIP code outside Reno.
Fairfield, Iowa
Yes, Fairfield, Iowa.
The ZIP that ranks seventh on Ron Paul’s list is a small town in southeastern Iowa’s Jefferson County.
But it’s no ordinary small town. Fairfield is just south of Maharishi Vedic City, home to Maharishi University,which attracts many believers in transcendental meditation.
Those believers have a strong attraction to Ron Paul — surrounding Jefferson County was the only one in Iowa to vote for Paul in his 2008 presidential campaign. In 2012, they delivered even bigger margins, giving him 49 percent of the vote, his best showing in the state.
Residents of Fairfield’s 52556 ZIP offered more than their votes — they gave more than $18,000 to the Texas congressman through February, much of it from the artisans at Radiance Dairy, Blue Fish Clothing and Overland Sheepskin.
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Originally Posted by Grammer Police
