Take Initiative America donor revealed as top Giuliani fundraiser

The mystery donor who funneled $175,000 to an initiative to reapportion California's electoral votes revealed himself Friday as Paul Singer, a billionaire hedge fund investor, who serves as a top fundraiser for Republican presidential frontrunner Rudy Giuliani.

Singer donated $175,000 to Take Initiative America, a recently incorporated Missouri company, which in turn gave the money to the California measure.

"I contributed to the Take Initiative America because I believe in proportional voting in the Electoral College," Singer said in a statement published by the New York Daily News. "I made the contribution without any restrictions, including whether or how it would need to be disclosed. I left disclosure completely up to TIA."

The California Republicans behind the measure, GOP attorney Tom Hiltachk, spokesman Kevin Eckery and fundraiser Marty Wilson, all withdrew from the campaign late Thursday, citing an inability to raise sufficient funds to place the measure on the ballot.

Democrats have called the measure an attempt to rig the 2008 presidential election for Republicans by dividing California's Electoral College votes by congressional district, likely giving the Republican nominee as many as 22 votes, roughly the size of Ohio.

The Giuliani campaign, for which Singer is a bundler of contributions, has denied any involvement.