As Presidential politics heads up nationally, of course it means that all of the candidates will be looking to California as they put together their national plans — especially on the financial side of things. For the Republican candidates especially, California has traditionally been considered an "ATM Stop" as there is a lot of fertile ground here for raising political funds — that they are traditionally spend in other states. FR Los Angeles County Correspondent Shawn Steel already posted about how some of the fundraising consultants are lining up in the GOP primary, but it is also notable to see that three California major finance players are taking the lead roles in the fundraising operations of Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and John McCain. Who are they?
Stepping up early for retiring Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s California efforts is highly regarded businessman and entrepreneur Hadi Makarechian (pictured to the right with his wife, Barbara), owner of a nationally ranked diversified real estate company that builds homes, office buildings, hotels and more. Here in California, he is most well known as the builder and developer of the five-star St. Regis Resort (and surrounding real estate) in Monarch Beach in South Orange County. Romney’s candidacy has struck a resonant chord with many of the leaders of the New Majority crowd, so look for big bucks coming out of the Golden State for him!
When Rudy Giuliani was a United States Attorney in New York, battling gangsters and the like, one of the people on his team was none other than Bill Simon, the gubernatorial nominee for California Republicans against Gray Davis in 2002. While Simon was not successful at taking out Davis, he was very successful at endearing himself to California Republicans. Simon, a conservative with strong principles, put together a strong grassroots effort that remains to this day. Bill Simon is a wealthy financier with a very successful investment practice. He brings a lot to the table for Mayor Giuliani (Giuliani is pictured at an appearance for Simon when he was running for Governor in ’02).
Grabbing the biggest prize in the sweepstakes for prominent figures in the California Republican finance community is United States Senator John McCain. It was announced this week that Donald Bren (pictured to the left), the billionaire (several times over) owner of the Irvine Company has come onboard the finance team for the Arizona Senator. Bren is known for his business acumen, and for keeping his company engaged, artfully, in the political process. Bren’s rolodex will be the deepest of these ‘big three’ money folks.
We will be keeping a close eye on how the Presidential campaigns develop here in California – especially on the GOP side of the aisle. But right now, it is these three candidates that are clearly staking out their fundraising turf in the Golden State. The big question, of course, is whether any or all of them will re-invest any of their California-claimed cash into a strong air and ground game here in this State.
