House Speaker Paul Ryan has raised a record amount to help elect Republicans to the House, operating a near non-stop fundraising bandwagon that has turned nearly $30 million over to the National Republican Campaign Committee, Secrets has learned.
Ryan, made speaker in late October, less than a year ago, has easily topped former House Speaker John Boehner’s best take collected over two years, $20.9 million delivered to the NRCC in the 2012 election. Boehner was the most prolific House fundraiser before Ryan.
“By nearly every metric, Ryan is on a historic pace as speaker of the House,” said an ally.
House Speaker Paul Ryan joins Wisconsin state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, left, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., center, at a campaign rally for Johnson on Thursday, May 5, 2016. AP Photo.
In August, Ryan transferred $2,650,000 to the NRCC, his fourth largest transfer. It is an testament to his popularity and GOP concern over keeping the House.
And while overall fundraising figures for Ryan are not yet available, he was raising at a pace of almost $5 million a month. In July, Secrets reported that Ryan has already raised $37 million, with $25 million to NRCC. He has also raised money for his own reelection.
Ryan and his Team Ryan political operation has broken fundraising goals, but he is staying on the campaign trail to make sure that his party is well funded going into the fall election.
In August, for example, he went to 12 states and hosted 17 events to support members and candidates seeking to go to Washington. His Team Ryan political operation and PAC did other events also.
He did fundraising events in New York, Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin and Washington.
And with 62 days to go, Ryan isn’t slowing down, said his team, which has filled September with several events to help House and Senate incumbents.
Back home in Wisconsin, he is helping Sen. Ron Johnson’s reelection campaign. His congressional campaign has maxed out to Johnson and Ryan is planning a Washington event next week for Johnson and congressional candidate Mike Gallagher.
Ryan’s congressional campaign operation transferred $500,000 to the Wisconsin to the state Republican Party in May. It added another $250,000 last week.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
