Candidate Rick Perry Super-PACs collected over $17 million; the campaign itself raised less than $2 million.  With Perry dropping out, Super-PAC head Austin Barbour and the finance chair Brint Ryan are now issuing refunds.

TEXAS – A group of super PACs backing former Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s now-defunct presidential bid has refunded to donors most of the millions of dollars they collected, the groups’ finance chairman said.
“We’re still settling up with a few vendors … but we had a pretty good estimate of what those were so we were able to hold back a little bit of the reserve and refund the rest,” Brint Ryan, the super PACs’ finance chairman who runs a Dallas-based tax services company, told the Center for Public Integrity.
The pro-Perry super PACs, all named variations on Opportunity and Freedom PAC, are legally allowed to accept unlimited contributions.
They collectively reported raising $12.8 million during the first half of the year. Austin Barbour, the senior adviser, said they had received another $4 million contribution from a single donor after the reporting deadline, bringing the total to nearly $17 million.
The bulk of the groups’ money came from a relatively small number of donors. Dallas billionaire Kelcy Warren, Perry’s campaign finance chairman, contributed $6 million. Darwin Deason, also a Dallas billionaire, gave $5 million.
[…]   The lessons of Perry’s aborted run have the potential to resonate with other candidates.
Outside groups dedicated to backing specific presidential candidates are playing an unprecedented role in the 2016 election cycle, with nearly every contender boasting one.
Several Republican candidates — former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and others — are relying heavily on super PACs that have raised many times the money of their campaigns.
In many cases, the super PACs have assumed functions traditionally performed by the campaign and so far, are sponsoring the vast majority of television ads.
Supportive super PACs are “kind of a blessing for candidates” said Iowa State University political science professor David Andersen.
“As long as you have a few very wealthy donors who are willing to finance your campaign through a super PAC, you can last even if your poll numbers are terrible,” he said.
Perry, Andersen continued, could have stayed in the race longer.  (read more)