Top Political Donors Have Already Given $66 Million for Midterms
Source: Bloomberg News
By John McCormick and Bill Allison
February 22, 2018, 4:00 AM EST
Billionaire Tom Steyer and packaging king Richard Uihlein are leading the charge among mega-donors seeking to influence the November elections, with the top 10 contributors logging a combined $65.7 million so far in the current campaign cycle.
With control of Congress at stake, the top Democratic and Republican donors will be pressed to finance a battle thats already triggering television advertising and expected to set a spending record. The first midterm elections under President Donald Trump will be a high-priced test of whether the GOP can keep majorities in both the House and Senate. As many as a dozen Senate seats and 80 in the House could be in play.
"This will be a historically expensive midterm," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance. "We will see massive donations fueling massive spending."
Uihlein and Steyer -- the leading contributors for their respective parties -- are facing off with starkly different styles. Uihlein, a Republican, dodges almost all publicity, while Steyer, a Democrat, is becoming a household name because of his on-camera appeals to impeach the president.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-22/mega-donors-lead-parties-search-for-early-edge-in-u-s-election