Type of organization: Super PAC

Supports candidate: Rick Santorum

Founded: Oct. 1, 2011

Website: www.rwbfund.com

Social media: YouTube channel, Facebook page, Twitter profile

Principals:

• Nick Ryan (founder): Former Santorum advisor; founder and president of Concordia Group, LLC, a political consulting firm; longtime advisor to former Rep. Jim Nussle, R-Iowa.
• Stuart Roy (spokesman): Partner at Prism Public Affairs; former chief spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and former chief communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
• Christopher Marston (treasurer): Founder of Election CFO, which provides campaign finance services; held top positions under former President George W. Bush in the Department of Education and the National Office of Drug Control Policy.

Profile:

The primary pro-Santorum outside spending group has been widely credited with helping the underdog candidate stay in the race for as long as he did before eventually bowing out April 10, 2012. Given that the super PAC out-raised Santorum's own campaign by over a million dollars, it is easy to understand why the Red, White and Blue fund was considered such a power during the GOP primary.

The primary funders of the super PAC have been wealthy Wyoming investor Foster Friess -- who donated a large chunk of the $537,000 that the Red, White and Blue Fund spent to help Santorum eke out an upset victory in the Iowa caucuses -- and energy executive William Doré of Louisiana.

As the primary unfolded, Friess told iWatch News that he would kick in $500,000 if it were matched by others who he solicited in a letter that went to 5,000 "sportsmen." He made good on that promise, and as of the end of March, his total contributions to the Red, White and Blue Fund exceeded $2 million.

“The Democrats will chew [Mitt] Romney up because of his patrician background,” Friess said in an interview with iWatch News, in explaining his support for Santorum over the former Massachusetts governor.

Friess and his family members have given $616,000 in federal contributions since the 2008 election cycle, all of it to Republican candidates and committees, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Friess and wife, Lynette, gave $5,000 to Santorum and $5,000 to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for the 2012 election cycle and only $1,000 to Romney. In 2008, they each gave Romney the legal maximum of $2,300. During the past two decades, they have given Santorum and his leadership PAC $57,000 -- more money than they've given to any other federal candidate.

Friess, Doré and Annette Simmons, wife of super-donor Harold Simmons, rank as the only three people to have made seven-figure donations to the super PAC. The donation from Simmons resulted in a personal visit from Santorum to her home to thank her for the support.  

Other notable donors include John Templeton, the head of the Templeton Foundation, who has donated $265,000; Chris A. Siepman of Liquid Capital Group, who donated $250,000; and Yonkers-based small arms manufacturer Kimber Manufacturing, which has contributed $200,000, including $100,000 in February.

Facebook users reported "harassing" robocalls on Red, White and Blue's Facebook page in late March and early April. Some said the automated, negative messages - which often sometimes came late at night and as often as four times a day - inspired them not to vote for Santorum. 

With Santorum's withdrawal from the race, it is unclear what the future holds for the Red, White and Blue Fund. According to campaign finance experts, the super PAC can do "pretty much" anything it wants with its funds. On May 3, Politico reported that the Red, White and Blue Fund would become the new political platform for Santorum, who, in early May, endorsed Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning in the state's GOP U.S. Senate primary in an email paid for by the super PAC. On May 7, the super PAC told the FEC that it was in the process of creating a second bank account, which would only accept limited contributions, so it could directly donate to federal candidates.

Red, White and Blue Fund still raised $120,000 in April despite Santorum's withdrawal, with a full $100,000 coming from Tandy Mitchell, the chairman of Cinemark.

See more data on Red, White and Blue Fund at OpenSecrets.org, or more background information at FactCheck.org.

Advertisements:

• The PAC put $225,000 into Iowa for a pro-Santorum ad entitled “Devoted.”
• The PAC put $190,000 into South Carolina for a pro-Santorum ad entitled “Pride.”
• The "Bold Plan" ad aired in Michigan.
• "Trust," a pro-Santorum ad, aired in Missouri.
• "Meet the Real Mitt Romney" and "America's Future," both negative ads, contained several misleading facts, according to Factcheck.org.

Last updated: May 21, 2012