Perry Supporters Say They ve Raised Nearly

Indiana Presidential candidate Rick Perry compelled his beau Republicans on Thursday to work harder to succeed black votes, saying deep did not Democratic economical guidelines had offered the get-together a different prospect to charm to AfricanovervallenAmericans.

Jordan Russell, a spokesman for the Opportunity and Freedom PAC, confirmed that the organization and its two affiliated groups, all under the leadership of prominent Mississippi operative Austin Barbour, among others, had raised $16.8 million for the former Texas governor.

Groups supporting ex- Gov. Rick Perry’s presidential effort have raised almost $18 million, they announced Friday, cementing his status as a competitive, but certainly not dominant, fundraiser in the Republican field.

The GOP has struggled with Black voters since Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A third super PAC, launched just this week, took in $4 million from a single donor, according to the report. Bush was on an aggressive fundraising drive for the super PAC until his June 15 presidential announcement when federal rules dictate that the candidate and the super PAC operate independently.

Darwin Deason, another Dallas billionaire who founded an information technology company that was later acquired by Xerox Corporation, gave $5 million. Those figures all reflect a fundraising period that ended on June 30, before the Perry group received the $4 million check. This almost $17 million war chest is well below the $103 million amassed by ex- Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL). The final numbers are due July 15.

Barbour said he and other Perry allies organized three super PACs because high-dollars donors want to have more input in the process this election cycle than they did in 2012.