In the Race for Cash, Cruz and Rubio are the Winners

If you remember when Scott Walker pulled out of the Republican presidential primary, his superpac had about $20 million in the bank, but his actual campaign had almost nothing. That's because individuals and corporations can give unlimited amounts to superpacs, but can only donate $2,700 to a campaign. Candidates need the campaign money - especially to get through the cost-intensive upcoming primary calendar that will find them needing to employ staff and travel to some two dozen states once the voting is completed in Iowa and New Hampshire.

When it comes to that race, here is how things stack up in terms of cash on hand:

Ted Cruz - $18.7 million
Marco Rubio - $10.4 million
Jeb Bush - $7.6 million
Ben Carson - $6.6 million
John Kasich - $2.5 million
Chris Christie - $1.0 million

In addition to cash on hand, Cruz has lots of room to grow because 42% of his donations came from people who gave $200 or less.

Of course Donald Trump is in a whole other category. Reports show that he raised $13.6 million in the fourth quarter of last year. But over $10 million of that came in the form of a "loan" he personally made to his campaign.

The importance of the upcoming votes in Iowa and New Hampshire are critical in this race for money. Jeb Bush can probably hang in for a while. Between Carson's dwindling donations and his incredibly high "burn rate," he's likely to be out pretty quickly. And if Kasich and Christie can't claim a win in either state, they're probably toast. Thus begins the winnowing process.