Florida still leading the pack in primary Super PAC spending

Despite the hotly-contested primary race in Michigan yesterday, Florida remains the state in which the most amount of money has been spent by Super PACs in a primary.

Yesterday, Presidential candidate (and the party’s presumed front-runner) Mitt Romney won narrowly over Rick Santorum in Michigan.

Super PACs are a new and controversial type of political action committee (PACs) that allows groups to raise unlimited funds from corporations, individuals, and unions. These groups tend to bring in big money and can spend millions supporting or opposing political candidates.

ProPublica’s PAC Track shows that $5,044,866 was spent in Michigan for that primary race– $3,025,965 of that was spent by Restore Our Future, a Super PAC associated with Romney. That PAC spent 88 percent of that money ($2,652,049) opposing Santorum.

While Florida’s GOP presidential primary was not nearly as close as Michigan’s primary (Romney handily won Florida’s primary by a large margin), Florida remains the state where the most money has been spent by Super PACs.

According to information reported by ProPublica’s PAC Track, Super PACs spent a reported $17,813,922 in Florida’s primary – $10,925,711 of which was spent supporting Romney by Restore Our Future. Winning Our Future, a Super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich, spent $5,396,699.

Florida is expected to be a key state in the general election, which will likely mean an even bigger influx of cash from these influential groups.