Kasich PACs raise $17.7M, turn to New Hampshire

Two super PACs supporting Ohio Gov. John Kasich spent heavily in New Hampshire where the candidate has slowly gained momentum, but their fundraising has lagged behind the super PAC supporting key Kasich rivals.

The New Day for America and New Day Independent Media PACs combined to raise about $3.6 million during roughly the last half of 2015, according to year-end reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission on Sunday.

That brought the final combined fundraising total to $17.7 million for the year, according to a New Day news release. The super PACs reported a balance of nearly $2 million in cash on hand.

By comparison, a super PAC supporting Florida Sen. Marco Rubio raised more than $30 million last year, $14 million on which came in during the last six months of the year. The Rubio super PAC, Conservative Solution PAC, started 2016 nearly $14 million in the bank, as he Kasich and a several other Republicans compete to emerge as the establishment-backed alternative to billionaire Donald Trump and firebrand Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Eager to demonstrate that it is gaining financial momentum ahead of the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary, the super PAC supporting Kasich announced over the weekend that several donors had stepped up to provide a $4 million cash infusion in January.

In the final months of 2015, Kasich collected $250,000 contributions from Abigail Wexner, wife of The Limited founder Leslie Wexner, New York venture capitalist Michael Goguen and California-based hedge fund manager Greg Wendt.

Throughout 2015, the PAC and campaign have pumped $11.7 million in to advertising in New Hampshire where he was outspent by both Rubio and Jeb Bush by a wide margin.

Kasich trails only Donald Trump in New Hampshire in the latest RealClearPolitics polling average.