New Cuba Policy Reinvigorates Anti-Castro Donors
President Barack Obama’s announcement in December that he would start normalizing relations with Cuba seemed a direct shot at a once-powerful lobbying presence in Washington — the large, well-organized and relatively wealthy enclave of Cuban-Americans and Cuban exiles who have been major contributors for decades. Although the community’s cash has gone to candidates on both sides of the aisle, as we pointed out late last year, in recent years it has taken a decidedly conservative turn even as the community’s giving has declined. But the newest FEC filings covering the period in which Obama revealed his new policy show that the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, the most prominent PAC representing the anti-Castro community, saw a significant jump in donations.
U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC was formed in 2004 and promptly began raising and spending six-figure sums. The group reached its peak in 2008, raising $802,000 and spending more than $1 million, including over $767,000 in contributions to federal candidates and committees. But since that cycle, the group’s numbers have slowly slid. In 2012, the group raised just $511,000, its lowest sum ever, and directed only $304,000 to other federal committees. With just about one month left in the 2014 cycle, the PAC had raised only $425,000 and hadn’t had raised more than $53,000 in any fundraising period in 2014, suggesting that the year end totals for the group were probably going to land well south of last year’s numbers and set a new low.
Perhaps sensing that the anti-Castro lobby was no longer a threat, Obama announced his plan on Dec. 17. U.S-Cuba Democracy’s fundraising operations were reinvigorated overnight.
According to the group’s reports, it raised $17,200 between Nov. 25 and Dec. 14. Then, between Dec. 15 and Dec. 22, more than $55,000 suddenly came in the door. And Dec. 23 was the single biggest fundraising day for the PAC in the entire cycle — it pulled in $47,675, according to the group’s filing. A review of the PAC’s records back to its creation in 2004 shows that, based on the dates provided in its reports, Dec. 23 was the group’s fifth-largest fundraising day ever, and the biggest since Dec. 31, 2009.
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http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2015/02/new-cuba-policy-reinvigorates-anti-castro-donors/
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