Big Political Donors in Cumming Lean Republican

CUMMING, GA -- If campaign contributions in Georgia are any indication, Tuesday’s result in the Democratic presidential primary should be a good one for Hillary Clinton.

The Republican money race in the Peach State is a more complicated affair, however, with back-of-the-pack candidates like Ben Carson raking in more campaign cash than the likes of presumed front-runner Donald Trump.

That’s according to the latest publicly available contribution data from the Federal Election Commission.

Clinton’s campaign has raised just over $1.3 million in the state, according to the FEC. That’s compared to about $320,000 for challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Among Republicans, Carson has benefited the most from Georgia’s largess among candidates still in the race, pulling in about $767,000. Sen. Ted Cruz is next with about $617,000 and Sen. Marco Rubio has raised about $570,000 in Georgia.

Trump, the billionaire who has largely financed his own campaign, has pulled a mere $55,514 in the state.

It’s worth noting, of course, that the FEC stats are for contributions directly to campaigns. Donors also are able to give to political action committees (PACs) which act on the various candidates’ behalf, but are not officially aligned with them.

Cumming hasn’t been a hot spot for big-time donations to either party this election cycle -- particularly for Democrats.

Clinton and Sanders have both pulled in a decent amount of small donations from Cumming and the rest of Forsyth County, but neither Democrat has pulled in a single donation above $500 locally.

Cumming was more generous to the Republicans.

There were no contributions listed to Trump, and none above $250 for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. But the others received at least a handful of donations for either $1,000 or the election-cycle limit of $2,700. They were:

For Carson:

_ James Howe, self-employed, $2,700
For Cruz:

_ William E. Porter, self-employed, $1,000

_ David Van Sant, attorney, $2,700
For Rubio:

_ Srinivasa Nimmagadda, N/A, $1,080

Following Democratic voting in three states, Clinton leads Sanders in pledged delegates, 52 to 51. But Clinton holds a commanding lead over the Vermont senator in the race for the nomination overall, with the support of 445 superdelegates compared to just 18 superdelegates for Sanders.

Following Republican voting in four states, Trump holds a commanding lead in delegate count with 82. Cruz has 17 pledged delegates, Rubio 16, Kasich 6 and Carson 4.

Polls will be open in Georgia on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.