Several High-Profile Hispanic Bush-Backers among Those Now Behind Richardson

WASHINGTON — As a consultant in six GOP campaigns, dating back to Ronald Reagan in 1980, Texas ad man Lionel Sosa tried to convince Hispanic Democrats to back non-Hispanic Republicans for president.

This year, after serving as an Hispanic outreach consultant and high-dollar fundraiser in President Bush's national campaigns, Sosa is putting his money on a Hispanic Democrat.

"Blood is thicker than party," Sosa said in explaining his support for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's bid to become the nation's first Hispanic president.

The lure of Hispanic heritage and potential political history also moved Houston lawyer Hector Delgado, another former top fundraiser for Bush, away from a lifetime of backing Republican presidential candidates.

"He is Hispanic," he said without pause when asked why he backs Richardson.

Sosa and Delgado are among at least 20 Bush "pioneers" who raised more than $100,000 for his presidential races but now have contributed to Democrats seeking their party's 2008 presidential nomination.

A preliminary review of campaign finance data by the Center for Responsive Politics also shows that top Bush fundraisers have contributed more than $50,000 to Democratic candidates and $315,000 to GOP contenders.

Delgado gave $500 to Richardson and says "odds are" he'll back the GOP nominee if Democrats don't pick Richardson.

"If you just look at his record he is the type of individual we want running the country," said Delgado, who has never backed a Democratic presidential candidate before.

Sosa, who voted for Democrat John F. Kennedy in 1960 and every GOP presidential candidate since then, has given $2,300 (the maximum allowed by law) to Richardson. He is hosting a June 5 event in San Antonio with a goal of raising at least $100,000 for the New Mexico governor.

El Paso businessman Woody Hunt, another Bush "pioneer," has given $2,300 to Richardson. In Austin, lobbyist Gregory C. Barnes, also a Bush 2000 pioneer, has given $250 to the presidential campaign of Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.

Hunt, an El Paso businessman who said he doesn't believe he ever raised the $100,000 needed to qualify as a Bush pioneer, said Richardson is his favored candidate on the Democratic side, though he has not decided who will get his vote. For now, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the GOP contender that has caught Hunt's eye.

Hunt, concerned about economic development issues, said he is impressed by Richardson's efforts on that front in New Mexico.

"He cut tax rates and he has had some focus on education," Hunt said.

Sosa is a potentially pivotal backer for Richardson. Honored in 2005 by Time magazine as one of the nation's 25 most influential Hispanics, he is well-positioned to potentially help Richardson make inroads among Republicans.

While acknowledging Bush's problems ("They were big mistakes," he said), Sosa remains a Bush backer and a Republican.

He talks about his "responsibility" to back Richardson, a Democrat he said he would not consider supporting if he was not Hispanic.

"We are either the majority or getting close to the majority in the top U.S. cities," Sosa said. "And now we have a responsibility to support each other that goes beyond party."

Sosa, who worked for Democrat Henry Cisneros' nonpartisan mayoral races in San Antonio, rejected the notion that his support for Richardson is a "turncoat thing."

"I am supporting Bill Richardson not only because he is a Latino but because he is a conservative Latino and extremely capable and the most qualified candidate out there," Sosa said.

Sosa's work on Hispanic outreach for GOP candidates began in 1978 as a consultant to then-Sen. John Tower of Texas and successful gubernatorial contender Bill Clements.

Republican Party lore says that Reagan talked Sosa into working for his 1980 campaign by telling him, "Latinos are Republicans. They just don't know it yet."

If Richardson does not get the Democratic nomination, Sosa said there is a 95 percent chance he would back whomever the GOP picks.

Sosa remains a Bush supporter despite the administration's problems.

Bush's mistakes?

"Obviously the war," Sosa said. "You go just from one to the other. Whether it's weapons of mass destruction, it's 'Mission Accomplished' or it's 'We will be welcomed as liberators' and on and on and on. ... They were big mistakes."

"I hope the lives that have been lost have not been lost in vain," he said.

Delgado said the president has been plagued by "a lot of events that are very, very challenging."

"He is a good man and he has done the best job possible and he is my president," Delgado said. "Even good men sometimes face situations that possibly nobody could have handled any better than they were handled."

Several of the 20 Bush "pioneers" and "rangers" who have given money to current Democratic presidential candidates also have donated to GOP contenders (including spouse contributions that bring the maximum to $4,600):

Stephen Burke of Pennsylvania, chief operating officer of Comcast Corp., ($4,600 to Clinton and $2,300 to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.); Robert Kotick of California, chief executive officer of Activision Inc., ($4,600 to Obama and $4,200 to Republican Mitt Romney; Sig Rogich of Nevada, a political consultant and McCain backer ($2,300 to Richardson and $2,300 to McCain); Ivan Seidenberg of New York, chief executive officer of Verizon Communications, ($4,600 to Clinton and $2,100 to McCain); Manuel Stamatakis of Pennsylvania, a businessman and state finance co-chair for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, ($1,000 to Biden and $4,600 to Giuliani); Thomas G. Stemberg of Massachusetts, founder of Staples Inc., ($2,300 to Obama and $2,300 to Romney); and David C. Weinstein of Massachusetts, Fidelity Investments' executive vice president ($1,000 to Dodd and $1,800 to Romney).