Republican strategist Karl Rove may be moving to help bankroll Ben Carson in the presidential race.
Reports say Rove helped to set up a meeting between Carson’s campaign and billionaire Steve Wynn, but additional details were not immediately clear. Wynn, who owns casinos and hotels across the country, has contributed a combined $30,000 to political action committees associated with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in this election cycle.
Ben Carson presently ranks fourth in the Washington Examiner‘s power rankings.
Wynn is munificent when it comes to campaign contributions, and he rarely discriminates between parties. Federal Election Commission filings indicate Wynn has made multiple contributions to both of his state’s U.S. senators, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., as well as a range of officials across the country.
In spite of his registration as a Democrat, Wynn is a familiar face to Republican leaders, who selected him to serve as the honorary co-chairmen of the Republican National Committee’s finance effort in 2008. However, that was not enough to win his vote: Wynn said he voted for President Obama that year.
Wynn is also rumored to have contributed millions to Rove’s American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS in 2012, though the groups are not required to disclose their donors. The groups spent more than $400 million that year, largely without success.
Donald Trump took to Twitter the day after the election to make that observation, saying, “Congrats to Karl Rove on blowing $400 million this cycle. Every race Crossroads GPS ran ads in, the Republicans lost. What a waste of money.”
Congrats to @KarlRove on blowing $400 million this cycle. Every race @CrossroadsGPS ran ads in, the Republicans lost. What a waste of money.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2012
Rove has taken offense at Trump’s criticisms, and maintains that his groups were more successful in 2014. “If he thinks we have not won a single race, I point him to the 10 new members of the United States Senate last year,” Rove told a radio show this week. “Dan Sullivan in Alaska, Steve Daines in Montana, Corey Gardner in Colorado, Joni Ernst in Iowa, who got elected with the support of American Crossroads. We have spent a lot of money and most of it has been spent in winning causes… He doesn’t care, he knows that it’s a lie but he doesn’t care.”
Observers believe Wynn’s rendezvous with Carson’s team could result in a plan for spending aimed at trying to degrade the lead held by Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who presently ranks first in the Examiner‘s power rankings.
