Donald Trump's campaign is working out a fundraising agreement to marry his campaign's skeletal fundraising efforts with state and national Republican party leaders. And, for now, the Georgia GOP is staying out of the deal.
A party spokesman said the Georgia GOP has not yet been asked to participate in an agreement that would allow Trump to accept six-figure checks in his general election campaign by leaning on state and national Republican organizations to help raise funds for the November race. Trump, who once vowed to self-finance his campaign, is looking for all that help he can get for a race that could surpass $1 billion.
Sources with knowledge of the RNC's current plans said its joint fundraising arrangement would include four to 12 state committees, which could allow the committee to accept checks of $78,800 to $158,000.
The joint committee could help Trump's campaign as well as the RNC, which has struggled to keep its finances intact. The committee ended March with just $16 million on hand and nearly $2 million in outstanding debt. Taken together, the bank account is a fraction of what the committee had at similar points in 2008 and 2012. The RNC has said it has less cash on hand because it has invested more at an earlier point in the cycle on political operations.
GOP chair John Padgett joined other top state officials in expressing support for Trump at the stop of the ticket, saying that the party would do “everything in our power to protect our U.S. Senate seat and win back the White House this fall.” But it's still a delicate tightrope walk for Georgia Republicans worried that Trump could do lasting damage to the fractured GOP.
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