Here’s where George Pataki will look for campaign money

Even the fringiest candidates for president tend to have a wealthy backer or two able to keep them in the race for a few months. But George Pataki, the latest Republican to declare he’s chasing the nomination, may test the threshold for a low-budget campaign.

Pataki is a proven politician, having served three terms as governor of New York (1995-2006) after working his way up from mayor of Peekskill and several terms in the state legislature. But he last served nearly a decade ago and is basically unknown outside of New York. If he were to win, Pataki, at 71, would be the oldest person ever sworn in as president. When asked who might donate to such a quixotic candidate, one Republican fundraiser said, “Not a clue.”

Pataki’s strategy is to compete in the early primaries like those in New Hampshire and South Carolina, and if he performs well, use that to appeal to donors and prolong his stay in the race. He does occupy a bit of unique turf among Republicans, since he’s a fiscal conservative who favors cutting taxes and spending but also a social liberal who supports abortion rights. "Gov. Pataki has been a very prolific fundraiser throughout his time in office," says Dave Catalfamo, a campaign spokesman. "We expect that as we move forward the donations will be there for us to be effective."

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If Pataki does attract donations, they’ll come from connections he established as governor—including many of the world’s wealthiest businesspeople. “His fundraising base will likely be centered in the Northeast, specifically around New York City, where he has maintained very strong relationships with the business community,” says Republican strategist Boris Ephsteyn.

Here are a few of the biggest contributors who supported Pataki when he was New York governor and might be getting a call from the old pol:

New York law firms. Pataki, a lawyer himself, drew hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from attorney at firms such as Nixon Peabody, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker, and Harris Beach, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

Real estate developers. Real estate, like politics, is local, which is why Pataki drew sizable donations from well-known developers such as Larry Silverstein, Peter Kalikow, Jerry Speyer, Burton Resnick and Donald Trump.

Wall Street financiers. Every New York governor gets a fundraising assist from a handful of hedge-fund managers and other billionaires. Big names who have been in Pataki’s corner in the past: Bruce Kovner, Leon Black, Carl Icahn, Henry Kravis, Mario Gabelli and Lewis Eisenberg. Such donors have a lot of money to spread around, but also a lot of suitors angling for a cut. Eisenberg, for instance, recently became finance chair for the Republican National Committee, and he has close ties with two others competing with Pataki for the 2016 nod: Jeb Bush and Chris Christie.

The Koch family. Industrialist David Koch and his now ex-wife Julia donated about $100,000 to Pataki’s campaigns. Koch’s brother Charles, however, doesn’t show up in Pataki’s funding records, which is notable because the billionaire brothers, who run the conglomerate Koch Industries, often fund candidates together.

Pataki and his fundraisers may also be placing a few calls to the heirs of old friends, since several of Pataki’s biggest donors have died since he was in office. Among the departed: Inventor Robert Abplanalp, financier Finn Casperson, and developers Lewis Rudin and Michael Chasanoff. They gave to Pataki while the giving was good.

Read about where some of the other presidential candidates, including Republicans Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, and Rick Santorum, along with Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, get their campaign money from.

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

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