NEW YORK — Despite a wealth of choices in a crowded primary field, the vast majority of high-level Republican donors and fund-raisers have not yet backed any candidate financially, magnifying the importance of the coming debates as the presidential hopefuls seek to impress potential backers.
Only about a fifth of the 1,000 or so fund-raisers and their spouses who rallied around Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee in 2012, have given money to any of the 2016 candidates, according to a New York Times review of fund-raising records reported by the candidates last week.
Those who remain uncommitted — including hundreds of volunteer “bundlers” who could collect contributions from their friends and business associates — represent a huge pool of untapped campaign cash, potentially hundreds of millions of dollars, that could remake the primary campaign.
Some of the bundlers and donors said they have held back, in part, because the field was the strongest they had seen in years, with several viable contenders representing different generational and ideological segments of the party.
Unlike in 2012, when Romney dominated fund-raising even as he fought off insurgencies by more populist candidates, the affections of many donors are divided among three or four candidates for 2016.
Others are quietly weighing the impact of Donald Trump, who has jumped to the lead in some national polls despite raising almost no money from the party’s establishment.
“I haven’t committed to anyone at this point, and I’m not on the verge of committing to anyone,” said Paul E. Singer, a hedge fund manager who is among the most sought-after Republican bundlers, at an investment conference last week. “I think there are a number of candidates that are smart, solid, good potential leaders — leaders and potential leaders.”
The slow recruitment of major donors and bundlers is also a function, several donors and Republican leaders said, of the candidates’ early emphasis on raising money for “super PACs,” which tend to be funded by a much smaller pool of extremely wealthy donors.
Candidates cannot solicit the unlimited checks that fuel super PACs, and several White House aspirants delayed entering the race, and spent the winter and spring securing commitments from mega-donors.
One result: Vast amounts of money are already flowing into the Republican race, but mostly to super PACs, not candidates. Super PACs and outside groups backing individual Republican candidates have raised about $230 million, while the candidates took in just $64 million through the end of June.
“The super PAC donors were more important, to some extent eclipsing the traditional world of hundreds of bundlers,” said Fred Malek, the Republican Governors Association’s finance chairman. “The next quarter is going to be hugely different.”
Some bundlers are committed to Republicans who did not enter the race until July and have not yet reported any fund-raising numbers, such as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.