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Here's where Bobby Jindal gets his campaign money

Here's where Bobby Jindal gets his campaign money

But wait—there’s more!

More Republican candidates, that is. Even though there are already 12 Republicans running for the 2016 presidential nomination, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal decided one more can’t hurt, so he jumped into the race on June 24, promoting himself as "the youngest candidate with the longest resume."

There’s more money than ever flowing into political campaigns these days, but even so, the long parade of Republican candidates could max out donors and leave marginal candidates such as Jindal severely underfunded. Though Rush Limbaugh once called him “the next Ronald Reagan,” the 44-year-old Indian American has struggled of late, with his home-state popularity plunging amid endless budget battles and the impression that his ambition lies outside Louisiana.

Jindal enters the presidential race with a funding deficit that seems likely to get worse. He has no billionaire sugar daddy, as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio do, and conservative groups that supported him as a governor may place their bets on other candidates now that the prize is the White House. Plus, Jindal’s super PAC, Believe Again, seems to have barely gotten started raising money, leaving him short of the crucial outside funding often used to run ads and attack opponents.

[Yahoo Finance exclusive: See where all the presidential candidates are getting their campaign money.]

Still, Jindal did raise a respectable $40 million or so in four successful elections, two for the House of Representatives followed by two for governor. Here are a few big donors from past campaigns he’ll likely be hitting up for his presidential bid.

The family of Bobby Jack Perry. The Texas real-estate honcho and his wife Doylene gave at least $400,000 to the Louisiana Republican Party in 2007 and 2011, when the party was Jindal’s biggest campaign contributor, according to data from the National Institute on Money in State Politics. Bobby Jack died in 2013 but Doylene was an active donor as recently as last fall.

Jack Lawton, Jr. and family. The Lawtons operate a 20,000-acre ranch near Lake Charles, in southwestern Louisiana, and also have interests in real estate and oil and gas. Jack Lawton’s eponymous firm has been Jindal’s biggest donor, after the state Republican party, donating $45,000 over the years. Lawton family members have given Jindal another $50,000, while donating at least $120,000 to the state GOP. In 2011, Jindal appointed Lawton to the board of Louisiana State University, where Lawton played cornerback in the 1970s.

Club for Growth. The conservative interest group was Jindal’s biggest donor during two terms in the House of Representatives, from 2003 to 2007, contributing $50,900, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. There are no records of the group donating to Jindal as governor, but its backing during his years as a legislator shows Jindal’s appeal to the rightward flank of the GOP.

The oil and gas industry. Not surprisingly, firms and individuals in this key sector of Louisiana’s economy have given Jindal at least $1.24 million as governor, topping donations from any other sector.

Nursing homes. Jindal has privatized much of Louisiana’s Medicaid program and slashed state spending on healthcare—except for nursing homes, which have enjoyed relatively stable funding. That has raised eyebrows because nursing homes, usually uncontroversial, have become one of Jindal’s largest funding sources, offering up at least $380,000 during his tenure as governor. One nursing home operator, Magnolia Management, has been Jindal’s third-largest donor, with contributions of at least $37,500, while the firm’s president, Elton Beebe, and his wife Carol have given another $20,000. If Jindal gains traction in the presidential race, you might hear more about that. On the other hand, you may not.

Rick Newman’s latest book is Liberty for All: A Manifesto for Reclaiming Financial and Political Freedom. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.