After speaking at the Colorado State Republican Convention Saturday morning to help accomplish his sweep of state’s 34 national convention delegates, Sen. Ted Cruz headed to Las Vegas. There Cruz addressed Sheldon Adelson’s Republican Jewish Coalition — a group of about 50 top GOP moneymen. Cruz courted those fund raisers throughout the weekend as he spent time expanding his donor network:
Cruz’s “investor summit” — held simultaneously with the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting at the Sheldon Adelson-owned hotel and casino — was talked about by some in Cruz’s orbit as resembling a special clarifying moment, when the Republican candidate solidified the momentum he needs for the rest of the presidential race.
The dozen new fundraisers who joined Cruz at the Venetian is a sign of the Campaign’s growing donor base. Cruz, between private meetings with leading Republican Jewish donors, pointed out in his pitch to the group that he has had limited access to their deep Rolodexes so far — but that he was eager to change that.
“We started this race with 17 candidates. Many of you started with somebody else,” he said, acknowledging that many in the room disagreed with him on immigration and gay marriage. “We have to achieve that unity — and we’ve got just over 100 days to do it.”
The Cruz campaign is a top-tier fundraising organization, but has yet to win over substantial numbers of the practiced bundlers that supported Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio campaigns.
No new donor would be more welcome than Adelson. He along with his wife gave more than $92 million to candidates in the 2012 presidential campaign.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member