NEWS

Who donated to pro-Kasich PACs? GOP faithful and a monk.

Jessie Balmert

COLUMBUS – Ohioans, GOP faithful and a monk were among the donors to two pro-Gov. John Kasich super PACs, which collected $11.7 million in just over two months.

Between April 20 and June 30, 146 contributors donated $11,130,730.32 to New Day for America, a super PAC supporting Kasich’s presidential bid. The PAC focused on advertising collected $600,000 in one day. Sixty percent of the 169 donations (some gave more than once) came from Ohio. But who are they?

Who donated the most?

Four contributors gave $1 million to New Day for America. They include

• Abigail Wexner of New Albany. She is married to Leslie Wexner, who founded L Brands, including The Limited, Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. The Wexners each contributed thousands to Kasich’s 2014 governor campaign. But Kasich wasn’t Abigail Wexner’s choice in 2010, when she donated to his competitor, then-Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat.

• Thomas Rastin, a Mount Vernon executive of Ariel Corporation, the world’s largest manufacturer of separable reciprocating gas compressors. Born in Iran, Rastin contributed the maximum amount to Kasich’s 2014 campaign for governor and has supported other Republican candidates from Auditor Dave Yost and Treasurer Josh Mandel to former Rep. Thom Collier, now a Knox County commissioner.

• Schottenstein Management Co., a Columbus-based real estate company where Kasich worked as an associate from 2008 to 2010. The Schottenstein family, including M/I Homes CEO Robert Schottenstein and DSW chairman Jay Schottenstein, are big supporters of Kasich’s campaigns.

• Wendt Family Trust, a California trust linked to Greg Wendt, a San Francisco investor and Sen. John McCain supporter. The trust contributed $150,000 to presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s super PAC between 2011 and 2012. The Sunlight Foundation called the Wendt Family Trust and ones like it “a highly opaque way to facilitate political spending.”

Other big contributors included New Day for America board member Philip Geier, former Lehman Brothers vice president Ted Schlein and John McConnell, who owns the Columbus Blue Jackets and runs Worthington Industries.

Why is a Montana company created Wednesday paying for pro-Kasich advertisements?

New Day Independent Media Committee, which will focus on advertising, received only two donations, totalling $600,000, on Thursday — the same day the super PAC filed its disclosure forms with the IRS. One of the donations was $500,000 from MMWP12 LLC, a Montana limited liability company created Wednesday.

MMWP12 is controlled by another Montana limited liability company, K2M. The Center for Public Integrity reported Thursday that K2M was linked to Mark Kvamme, a venture capitalist and friend of Kasich, and Paul Johannsen, a Montana real estate developer.

Mark’s parents, Jean and Floyd Kvamme, each contributed $100,000 to New Day for America.

How much did they spend?

The super PAC spent $823,809 — mostly on travel expenses and advertising. The group also paid $79,000 to Republican polling firm, American Worldview.

Who was the most interesting?

While many of the contributors were experienced Republican donors or CEOs, some had more humble professions. For example, a Canadian monk donated $250. An artist, nurse and a self-employed millwright also contributed. The super PAC even got $20,000 from Team Columbus Soccer LLC, the entity that operates the Columbus Crew.