Lindsey Graham’s 2016 finance team includes billionaires, CEOs

Sen. Lindsey Graham announced a 2016 presidential national finance committee on Thursday that includes billionaires Ronald Perelman and Anita Zucker and the chief executives of General Electric and Oracle.

The Seneca Republican announced his bid Monday.

“Lindsey Graham understands America’s leadership role in promoting an enduring peace on the global landscape,” said Perelman, chairman and chief executive of MacAndrews & Forbes who has supported Graham ally, Sen. John McCain. “With conflicts raging in the Middle East and around the world that threaten the security of America and our allies, we need leaders with strategic purpose and moral clarity to confront these crises.”

Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive of General Electric said: “Only Lindsey Graham has shown he has the ability and commitment to provide the kind of leadership that will allow us to overcome our nation’s challenges. He understands that America has an indispensable role to play in creating the stability and building the institutional capacity that are essential for growing markets and abiding security.”

David Wilkins, a former S.C. House Speaker and U.S. Ambassador to Canada, is Graham’s national finance chairman.

Graham is facing an uphill battle to win the Republican nomination.

He is polling at the back of the GOP field nationally and in the early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire. Graham is doing better in South Carolina where he has polled third.

Graham’s national finance committee includes:

Lenny Adelson

Yitz Applbaum, co-founder, Falcon Partner

Bradley Bloom, investment manager, Berkshire Partners

Terry Brown, real estate executive

Safra Catz, chief executive, Oracle Corp.

Irwin Chafetz, president, Interface Group-Massachusetts, Inc.

Wallace Cheves, managing partner, Sky Boat Gaming

Richard Chilton, chief executive, Chilton Investment Co.

Michael Crossen, partner, Rubin and Rudman

Ted Cutler, chairman, The Interface Group

Bart Daniel, attorney

Alec Ellison, investment banker, Jefferies & Co.

David Flaum, Flaum Management

C. Edward Floyd, Jr., surgeon, Floyd Medical Associates

Scott Ford, chief executive, Westbrook Group

Richard and Leslie Frank, Frank Family Vineyards

Jeff Immelt, chairman and chief executive, General Electric

George Johnson Jr., chairman, Johnson Development

Tom Joyce, chairman, Arxis Capital Investments

Peter Malone, CSP Associates

Barry Mannis, managing member, Samuel Capital Management

E. Smyth McKissick III, chief executive, Alice Manufacturing Company

Oswaldo “Ozzie” Palomo, ADS Ventures

Ronald Perelman, chairman and chief executive, MacAndrews & Forbes Incorporated

Bobby Rechnitz, chairman, Iron Dome Tribute

Frank Risch

William Rosenberg, Cabarrus Family Medicine

Robert Royall, former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania

Mark Rubin, Massachusetts General Hospital

Ron Simms, president, Simms Development

Roger Sofer, partner, Sofer Steiner and Associates

Michael Steinhardt, Steinhardt Management

William Stern, president, Stern & Stern Commercial Developers

Judy and Sidney Swartz

Joe Taylor, chief executive, Southland Capital Partners

Douglas Wendel, business consultant

John White Jr., Harrison, White, Smith & Coggins

David Wilkins, partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

Anita Zucker, chief executive, The Inter Tech Group

This story was originally published June 4, 2015 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Lindsey Graham’s 2016 finance team includes billionaires, CEOs."