Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination, but many of his campaign donors and aides have joined up with Rick Perry, according to the
Minneapolis Star Tribune.
The newspaper found in an analysis of campaign finance reports filed last week that contributors to Pawlenty’s own failed bid for the nomination are giving to the Texas governor over the former Massachusetts governor by a two-to-one margin.
The reports show that Pawlenty contributors gave at least $217,200 to Perry, while Romney received $108,600.
Many of Pawlenty’s former campaign officials and workers have also split their allegiances between the two, the Star Tribune reported.
“There are limits to an endorsement,” Nathan Gonzales, deputy editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report, told the newspaper. “Just because [Pawlenty] chose to back one candidate doesn’t mean all of his followers would move in lockstep.”
Indeed, Pawlenty backer Marjorie Bernard from Oyster Bay, N.Y., said in an interview with the paper that her switch from Pawlenty to Perry was personal.
“I know Pawlenty wasn’t a conservative, but he came across to me as being an honest person,” said Bernard, who has contributed $500 to the Perry campaign.