Trump sends Chicago's GOP donors spinning

CHICAGO -- Ron Gidwitz, Dan Webb and William Kunkler are veteran Republicans -- and friends -- from Chicago's political-money circuit. They raised buckets of cash for Mitt Romney four years ago.

This time, however, their party's nominee has sent them spinning off in three directions.

Gidwitz is hosting fundraisers for Donald Trump. Webb wrote a big check for Hillary Clinton.

And Kunkler won't do anything for either candidate, saying he prefers not to enable "stupid behavior."

"Everyone is trying to make the best of a bad situation," Kunkler said.

Illinois is especially ripe for this hodgepodge of political feelings.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner pretends Trump doesn't exist, Republican Sen. Mark Kirk trashes him, and the state's top GOP donors, mostly moderate business leaders, squirm at his racially charged comments.

It's also a tale in miniature of the Republican fundraising scene across the country.

Many top donors boycotted or sulked their way through the national convention last month.

And nearly every day, it seems, a Republican endorses Clinton, some promising financial help.

In a speech Thursday denouncing Trump as a bigot, Clinton said she is "honored" to have that kind of support.

While big crossover donors such as Webb are rare so far, there's evidence many Republicans are taking the Kunkler route of sitting on the sidelines, an Associated Press analysis of Federal Election Commission filings found.

Of the nearly 25,000 people who made the maximum contribution to GOP candidates other than Trump in the primary, about three dozen since have maxed out to Clinton.

Trump has picked up only about 100 donors from that same universe.