Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Marco Rubio Wins Backing of Billionaire Donor Paul Singer

One of the wealthiest and most influential Jewish Republican donors is throwing his support behind the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, the New York Times reported on Friday.

Billionaire New York investor Paul Singer sent a letter to dozens of other donors on Friday declaring his support for Rubio in a major blow to the struggling campaign of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, the newspaper said. They are among the candidates seeking the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

READ: Who the Jewish Billionaires Are Backing in 2016

Rubio, Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and several other Republican candidates had eagerly sought Singer’s support, the Times said.

In the letter, Singer described Rubio as the only candidate who can “navigate this complex primary process, and still be in a position to defeat” Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in the November 2016 general election.

Singer gave more money to Republican candidates and causes last year than any donor in the country, the Times said, citing the Center for Responsive Politics.

Paul Singer was once undecided about whom he would back in the GOP presidential race. No more. Image by Anya Ulinich

He is courted by Republicans both for his willingness to give and for his network of fellow conservative donors, the newspaper reported.

The Times did not say how much Singer intended to donate to Rubio, who is coming off a strong debate performance on Wednesday night in Colorado.

Rubio is third behind businessman Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson in a Real Clear Politics average of national opinion polls for the Republican race.

Bush, who is in fifth place in the polling and recently downsized his campaign staff, gave what is widely viewed as a lackluster performance in the debate.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.