Contributions from Utah, Mich. aid Romney

A review of the governor's 2003 campaign contributions shows that Romney, credited with salvaging the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics from scandal and financial crisis, remains an extremely popular figure in that state.

So far this year, Romney has received more than $8,000 in 160 individual contributions from Utah residents, the majority in sums between $5 and $25, records show. Utah produced the greatest number of individual contributions to Romney outside Massachusetts.

Frequently mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2008 or beyond, Romney also apparently enjoys fans from coast to coast, according to records from the Office of Campaign and Political Finance. In 2003, Romney hauled in about $130,000 from 640 individual contributors in 34 states and the District of Columbia, records show. That represents about 10 percent of the amount he has received this year, a sum that almost hit $1.3 million, the records indicate.

Michigan residents also gave Romney generous support, records show. It's no surprise, given that Romney's father, George W. Romney, was an extremely popular governor of that state, in addition to being a well-regarded automobile industry executive and presidential contender in the 1968 election. The former Michigan governor, who died in 1995, served, like his son, as a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Another generous state was New Hampshire, where Romney owns a vacation home on Lake Winnipesaukee. That was the setting for perhaps the most unusual moment thus far in the Romney administration, when the vacationing governor and his sons raced out on jet skis to save a family whose boat had capsized. The incident drew media attention nationwide.

Among the well-known names showing up on Romney's out-of-state contributor list was Henry Kissinger, the former US secretary of state, who gave $1,000 in September, $500 more than state law allows. The Office of Campaign and Political Finance has sent a letter to the Romney campaign ordering the return of the overage, officials at the office said. Thus far, records do not reflect such a transaction.

Also on the list was William F. Weld, a Republican and a former Massachusetts governor who lives in New York and donated $250; Thurgood Marshall Jr., a well-known Washington, D.C.-area lawyer and the son of the US Supreme Court justice ($500); Boston Celtics executive and Brigham Young University graduate Danny Ainge ($500); Timothy Mellon, heir of the Mellon banking fortune and chairman of Pan American Airlines ($500); Stephen R. Covey, the Utah-based author of the best-selling business book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" ($300); and Randy J. Kozuch, the state and local affairs director for the National Rifle Association who is from Virginia ($500).

But in Utah, where Romney maintains a vacation home and deep ties to the people and culture, the Massachusetts governor seems to have a dedicated base of fans.

"There's an enormous amount of good will toward Mitt Romney from across the country for his leadership of the Winter Olympics and as governor of Massachusetts," said Dominick Ianno, executive director of the Massachusetts Republican Party. "Governor Romney spent three years at the Olympics restoring respectability to the games and heading up an amazing operation. It doesn't surprise me that there are a lot of people in the community that would show their appreciation."

Asked why he sent Romney, a multimillionaire, donations of $38 and $25 this year, Jack Cordery, a Utah retiree, said: "It stems with the Utah culture, which is largely Mormon. His father was what we call a patriarch in the church, and he once gave me a patriarchal blessing."

Romney's ties to Utah dogged him early in last year's gubernatorial race, after the Globe disclosed that he paid property taxes on his Park City home as his "primary residence" for the years 1999, 2000, and 2001. The Massachusetts Constitution requires that a governor live in this state for seven years before election, and Romney oversaw the Olympics for three years.

Philip W. Johnston, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, said he was not surprised that Romney remains popular in Utah, because he still visits there with regularity and maintains property there.

"We in Massachusetts should feel fortunate that he deigns to visit us occasionally," Johnston said, joking. "He clearly has strong roots in Utah, which is something we said during the campaign, and he also clearly has national ambitions, and his fight with the Legislature is part of that strategy to run a national campaign. I'm sure he's reaching out to Republicans across the country as yet another Republican governor who doesn't intend to stay here very long."

Ianno dismissed such speculation, saying Romney has no plans of leaving the corner office soon.

"Governor Romney is focused on the job of reforming Massachusetts," he said.

Cordery, who spent his career working for the US Department of Labor, said he wouldn't have minded if Romney had run for governor of Utah instead of Massachusetts, but thought Massachusetts could make a better launching pad for a successful run for the presidency.

"I think he could be president, if he does a good job in cleaning up Massachusetts," Cordery said. "I believe he would be a good candidate, because he's a forceful, dynamic candidate."