Bank of America led list of donors to the RNC in Charlotte, new records show
Bank of America led the donors to the host committee for August’s Republican National Convention in Charlotte, followed by Duke Energy and other local firms in a fundraising effort that lacked many national brands.
In total, the host committee raised $37.6 million for the event that renominated President Donald Trump for a second term, according to a report filed Friday with the Federal Elections Commission.
The committee was well on its way to its initial $70 million goal, host committee CEO John Lassiter said. Then came Memorial Day. In a tweet, Trump threatened to move the convention because he said Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper would not guarantee a full Spectrum Arena. That stopped the fundraising.
Under Cooper’s measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the size of gatherings in North Carolina was strictly limited, meaning that Trump couldn’t have the crowd he desired at his renomination in Charlotte.
“We recognized at that point that the convention that we expected would not happen and we pulled back on a lot of things,” Lassiter said. “We put in motion a wind down almost immediately.”
The filing is the most detailed picture into the financing of the event, which was briefly moved to Jacksonville, Florida to dodge North Carolina’s pandemic rules. When the pandemic worsened in Florida, the event was scaled down and moved back to Charlotte for a day before continuing for four nights in Washington.
A sign inside the Charlotte Convention Center at the event listed some donors, but lacked the names of many that opted not to have their donations promoted.
The report details multiple trips to raise money, as well as one Lassiter made to London to meet with Lloyd’s of London about insurance for terrorist incidents, among other things.
The donors
The donors to the convention were a hodge-podge of local firms and traditional Republican donors. Controversial Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who served as national finance chair of the committee prior to his federal appointment, donated $685,230. Private equity billionaire Stephen Schwarzman donated $2 million.
Large local corporations led the donors, though.
Charlotte-based Bank of America donated $5.3 million, and also served as the bank for the host committee. Bank spokesman Bill Halldin said the donation was “part of our commitment to our headquarters city of Charlotte.” The bank also played a large role in the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.
Wells Fargo, Charlotte’s largest employer, donated $500,000.
Duke Energy donated $4 million, far less than it ended up contributing to the 2012 DNC, when it wrote off a $10 million loan it had provided for the event. “We support many events that showcase cities in our states on the national stage, and this was a great opportunity to promote our headquarters city of Charlotte,” said Duke spokesman Neil Nissan.
Pepsico donated $1.1 million, and Nucor, the Charlotte-based steelmaker, donated $1 million.
Few other companies with a national profile donated to the host committee, a growing trend as national political conventions become more connected with the growing polarization of the nation.
Republican dark-money groups also made up a sizable portion of the donors.
State Solutions Inc., a firm that shares the same address as the Republican Governors Association, donated $1 million. America First Policies, an advocacy group linked to Trump, donated $2 million. The American Action Network, a conservative advocacy group, donated $1.5 million.
Donations made
With the event that took place significantly scaled down, the committee had more money than it needed to put on the convention. It ended up giving nearly $400,000 to 11 local non-profits, including the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Foundation, Habitat for Humanity and Trees Charlotte.
The committee also announced in August that it’s would give $3.2 million in cash and supplies to non-profits and other organizations in the region.
Along with the direct donations, it pledged $500,000 in small business grants, a $2 million “economic development challenge grant” for efforts that promote the region’s economic growth and $200,000 of “branding assets” to promote the region.
Lassiter said the grants have not yet been awarded. He said economic development “was our goal to begin with.”
“We did it a slightly different way at the end of the day,” he said. “We didn’t waste any assets entrusted to us and we were able to use to benefit Charlotte and the region.”
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Bank of America led list of donors to the RNC in Charlotte, new records show."
