Norm Coleman is free Thursday after all. The former Republican senator from Minnesota was supposed to co-host a fundraiser forJeb Bush, but the former Florida governor on Saturday gave up his bid for the GOP nomination after a limp finish in the South Carolina primary. Now Mr. Coleman – who originally backed South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham before he quit the race in December — is throwing his support to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Virginia Republican fundraiser Bobbie Kilberg, who joined Mr. Bush’s camp last week, said nine donors reached out Sunday morning to say that if she backed Mr. Rubio, they would, too
“That’s a lot of people to call you at 10 in the morning on a Sunday,” said Mrs. Kilberg, who originally backed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s now-defunct presidential campaign. “I really believe (Mr. Rubio) is the only candidate around which mainstream Republicans can coalesce in order to win this nomination and win the general election.”
It’s the presidential version of musical chairs, as one candidate after another no longer sees a path to the nomination, goes home and leaves rivals jockeying for their cushion, so to speak.
Mr. Coleman and Mrs. Kilberg are among the first wave of major donors, elected officials and party leaders who are gravitating to Mr. Rubio after Mr. Bush’s exit. Despite his resistance to being lumped with the Republican “establishment,” Mr. Rubio is emerging as that wing of the party’s top choice.
These Republicans view New York billionaire Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as too extreme to win a general election, and they’re skeptical Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired neurosurgeonBen Carson can win the nomination.
In Mr. Rubio, who narrowly edged out Mr. Cruz for second place in South Carolina, “Republicans got what they wanted and needed — a proven, experienced, and electable political leader to emerge as an alternative to Trump,” said Fred Malek, a major Republican donor who has not endorsed a candidate because of his fundraising duties for the Republican Governors Association. “Sen. Rubio has proven the ability to bring people together across the spectrum, not just on the far right.”
Mr. Rubio’s campaign said he picked up support from at least four other prominent donors, including former ambassador Francis Rooney, who donated $2.3 million through his company last year to the pro-Bush super PAC, and Chicago investor Muneer Satter, who gave $550,000 to that super PAC. Other new donors include coal billionaire Joe Craft and former ambassador and Florida developerJohn Rood.
But some donors are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward Mr. Rubio, said Walker Stapleton, the Colorado state treasurer who was co-chairman of the Bush campaign in Colorado.
“While Rubio has performed better than Jeb has in these early states, the question remains can he actually win a state,” Mr. Stapleton said Sunday. “From an investment perspective you don’t know if it’s worth it.”
Another top supporter of Mr. Bush, Texas donor Fred Zeidman, said, “I need to catch my breath and see who can beat (Democrat)Hillary Clinton. That’s the only goal.”
Endorsements from elected officials behind Mr. Bush are also starting to roll in for Mr. Rubio. Nevada Sen. Dean Heller and Rep.Mark Amodei switched teams Sunday, two days before that state’s Republican caucus.
On Monday, three current and one former members of Congress from Miami who had been backing Mr. Bush – Republicans Carlos Curbelo, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Mario Diaz-Balart and Lincoln Diaz-Balart, are expected to throw their support to Mr. Rubio.
Also on Monday, Mr. Cruz is expecting to pick up an endorsement from one Bush fundraiser with long time ties to the Bush family, C. Boyden Gray, who was White House counsel to Mr. Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush.
