WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential campaigns and outside political groups were filing detailed financial reports Monday, offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the identities of wealthy supporters who will help elect the next U.S. president and details on how tens of millions of campaign dollars have been spent.
Reports released Monday show a "super" political action committee backing Republican Mitt Romney raised more than $6 million last month.
The Restore Our Future super PAC pulled in much of its fundraising money from donors who gave hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece. They included Marriott International Chairman J.W. Marriott and Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman.
Restore Our Future has raised more than $36 million this election cycle and had more than $16 million in the bank at the end of January. It has spent millions of dollars on television ads in key primary election states supporting Romney and hammering his opponents for the Republican presidential nomination to challenge President Barack Obama in November.
Fellow Republican candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum each briefly surged ahead of Romney last month but remained far behind the former Massachusetts governor in fundraising. Since then, former senator Santorum has climbed into a virtual tie in polls while support has eroded for former House of Representatives speaker Gingrich.
The campaign finance reports were due to the Federal Election Commission by midnight.
The detailed accounting reports will likely rekindle criticism of the new super PACs, which were made possible under a 2010 Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case. The groups must legally remain independent from the candidates they support, but many super PACs are staffed with former campaign aides who have intimate knowledge of the campaigns' strategies.
Late Friday, the Supreme Court put on hold a Montana case that bore striking similarities to the earlier case, and two justices said it provides an opportunity for the Supreme Court to reconsider whether the millions of dollars that millionaires and billionaires have poured into the presidential election should be allowed to continue.
President Barack Obama's campaign last Friday reported raising a combined $29.1 million in January among the campaign, the Democratic National Committee and other joint fundraising committees. The major super PAC backing Obama, Priorities USA Action, has yet to file its January report.
The group supporting Republican candidate and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Endorse Liberty, reported roughly $2.4 million in contributions, including $1.7 from the billionaire founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel of San Francisco. Thiel, who runs a hedge fund, is a libertarian who has supported Republican causes and candidates and has donated to California's marijuana legalization ballot measure.
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