KENNEBUNKPORT, Me. — Jeb Bush and his allies announced on Thursday that they had amassed more than $114 million in campaign cash over the last six months, dwarfing the combined fund-raising of his Republican rivals for the party’s presidential nomination.  The announcements, made as many of his donors were gathering at his family’s compound here to celebrate their success, established Mr. Bush as his party’s financial powerhouse. They also underscored how the Supreme Court’s five-year-old Citizens United decision continues to remake the way presidential campaigns are waged. Almost all of the money was raised before Mr. Bush formally declared his candidacy last month, collected by a “super PAC” that Mr. Bush’s aides helped set up.  Mr. Bush, a former Florida governor, personally raised money for the super PAC — often in increments of $1 million per donor — at dozens of events during the winter and spring, operating under the assumption that he was free to do so because he was not yet a declared presidential candidate. Super PACs can raise unlimited donations from corporations and individuals alike, though candidates are not allowed to coordinate with them.  Mr. Bush’s campaign itself raised about $11.4 million, with individual contributions capped by law at $2,700.  While Mr. Bush has dominated in donations among the ranks of traditional Republican fund-raisers and bundlers, the central role being assumed by super PACs has upended financial assumptions that have long dictated the strategy and duration of the campaign for the party’s nomination.  Instead of trying to build networks of hundreds of volunteer fund-raisers and bundlers, most of the Republican candidates have set up super PACs financed by a small number of super-wealthy supporters, each raising three or four times more than the candidate’s formal campaign.  Even insurgent candidates can now muster tens of millions of dollars from wealthy donors. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a conservative firebrand loathed by members of the party establishment, raised about $14.3 million for his campaign through the end of June, much of it from a loyal following of small donors eager to prevent Mr. Bush’s anointment. But Mr. Cruz is also backed by super PACs that raised another $38 million from just a handful of wealthy conservatives. This has effectively made him the second-strongest fund-raiser in the Republican field.  The first Federal Election Commission filing deadline for presidential candidates is Wednesday, but some organizations have released their totals early. Below, the announced money raised by the campaigns, “super PACs” and nonprofits supporting each candidate.  At least two other contenders, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, are backed by allied super PACs and nonprofit groups that have each raised in excess of $20 million — in Mr. Walker’s case, before he has even officially entered the race. Other candidates, such as Carly Fiorina, are embracing the same financial model.  Ms. Fiorina’s super PAC, which is underwriting grass-roots outreach on the former business executive’s behalf and even responding to rivals’ attacks on her business record, said on Monday that it had raised $3.4 million, three times the $1.4 million taken in through her campaign.  The full cash position of the campaigns — and the names of who, exactly, is supplying all this money — will not be clear until the end of the month, when each candidate is to have filed formal disclosures with the Federal Election Commission. But the rapid influx of super PAC money suggests that the Republican Party could be in for a particularly long and bloody nomination fight, one that could drag on well into next year.  “Having a well-funded campaign and a really well-funded super PAC will allow a lot of candidates to stick around a lot longer than they traditionally would, to drag out the process, and to make it harder for the nominee to pivot to the Democrat,” said Scott W. Reed, senior political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  The scale and pace of the fund-raising are unprecedented. Together, the Republican candidates and their super PACs have already reported raising at least five times more money than the entire 2012 field had raised by June 2011.  At one point this winter, Mr. Bush’s super PAC discouraged donors from giving more than $1 million, so as not to create the appearance of undue influence by wealthy supporters. On Thursday the super PAC put out a news release boasting of thousands of donors who had given no more than $25,000 — the super PAC equivalent of pocket change.  Nearly all the money is controlled by super PACs established before each candidate formally entered the race, a practice that has exploded during the early months of the 2016 campaign and has some critics alleging a violation of federal election laws.  “That Bush attended dozens of fund-raisers to help raise that cash while claiming he wasn’t running for president is the political lie of the year so far, and it’s probably illegal,” said David Donnelly, the president of Every Voice, a watchdog group that favors tighter restrictions on campaign fund-raising.  While Mr. Bush has raised the most so far, almost all the candidates have embraced a similar financial structure: super PACs controlled by close allies raising the bulk of the money and handling expenses like paid media, and a smaller campaign operation handling candidate’s travel, press relations and strategy.  In a break from 2012, when Democratic and Republican super PACs specialized in attack ads, several of the Republican groups are planning or have already embarked on large-scale, early ad campaigns.  Two groups allied with Mr. Walker said this week that they would report raising about $20 million through the end of June. Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for one, Unintimidated PAC, said it “is going to be tasked with introducing voters to the governor and his record. It’s a unique opportunity compared with other candidates, whose name recognition is already very high.”  And candidates like Mr. Cruz, Bobby Jindal or Rand Paul need not cater to mainline donors and fund-raisers, whose allegiance has been a deciding factor with almost every Republican nomination of the last three decades. Instead, they can combine grass-roots fund-raising online with a few large checks from conservative billionaires, amassing enough to be competitive.  Rick Tyler, an adviser to Mr. Cruz, said the senator’s fund-raising approach would allow him to avoid the fate of past insurgent candidates, such as Mike Huckabee or Rick Santorum, who were unable to raise money quickly enough to exploit early primary or caucus wins.  “What we have is the grass roots, plus money,” said Mr. Tyler, adding that Mr. Cruz’s campaign was already fully funded through March 15 of next year. “A conservative does not need to raise the most amount of money in order to beat an establishment candidate. We’re a well-funded conservative candidate — and we’re the only one.”
Bypassing vast networks of fund-raisers, Republican candidates are turning instead to super PACs able to draw on a few super-wealthy supporters.