Big Money $$: Top 20 Political Donors To Midterms, Most Expensive Election In US History
Midterm Big Spenders: The Top 20 Political Donors This Election. The 2018 midterms will likely be the most expensive in US history. The Guardian, Nov. 2, 2018. An extraordinary amount of money is being funneled into the midterms by a small number of people. But who are they, and what are they trying to buy?
The 2018 midterms will probably be the most expensive in US history. More than $5.2bn is predicted to be funneled into closely watched races and an extraordinary amount is coming from just a few individuals. > Political spending has leapt by 35% since the 2014 midterms, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). The center has found that individual political donations account for the majority of campaign cash across the board: they comprise about 71% of donations to Senate races for both Republicans and Democrats and about 61% of donations to House candidates.
While political donations can come in all shapes and sizes from large to small its the big-ticket players who have an outsized influence in shaping elections and, in turn, public policy. Donors get their phone calls answered, is one way of thinking about it, says Ian Vandewalker, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice. We like to think of our democracy as being one person, one vote the majority rules. But just being rich and being able to write million-dollar checks gets you influence over elected officials thats far greater than the average person.
So who are the biggest givers? Overwhelmingly, the cast of characters is a familiar one going back years and in some cases, decades, says Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of the CRP, of the 2018 midterms. This includes figures such as the Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and the progressive mega-donor George Soros but many names may be unfamiliar to the average voter.
The following individuals have given millions on the record, but many of them have also probably given an unknown amount of dark money to organizations that can avoid disclosure due to a complex regulatory situation and murky definitions of political activity. As of 1 November, five days before the election, here are the top 20 spenders, and what we know about where their money went:
1. Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, $113m. Net worth: $31bn. Politics: Conservative...
2. Thomas Steyer and Kathryn Taylor, $50.7m. Net worth: 1.6bn. Politics: Liberal...
3. Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, $39m. Net worth: Unknown. Politics: Conservative.
Bio in brief: Founders of a successful shipping supply company, Uline, the Uihleins are the most powerful conservative couple youve never heard of, according to the New York Times. The Uihleins have been supporting conservative causes for years but have only recently received national attention.
Midterms behavior: Theyve given at least $6.7m to the Club for Growth Action, a Super Pac dedicated to supporting anti-big government and pro-growth candidates, and at least $8m to Restoration Pac, a Super Pac with a wide range of politically conservative stances. They also give heavily to candidates and causes in their home state of Wisconsin...
4. Michael Bloomberg, $38m. Net worth: $46.1bn. Politics: Liberal...
5. Donald Sussman, $22.8m. Net worth: Unknown. Politics: Liberal.
Bio in brief: Sussmans hedge fund, Paloma Partners, was the top contributor to Hillary Clintons campaign with $21.6m, and he has given millions more to Democratic candidates and causes over the last few decades.
Midterms behavior: Sussman has made major donations to Senate Majority Pac, House Majority Pac and Priorities USA Action all Super Pacs supporting Democratic candidates and causes...
6. James Simons, $18.9m. Net worth: $20bn. Politics: Liberal.
Bio in brief: Jim Simons is yet another hedge fund billionaire, and a former mathematician. He founded Renaissance Technologies, from which he retired in 2010. He has been a major Democratic donor for about the last two decades.
Midterms behavior: This cycle, some of Simons biggest donations have gone to the Senate Majority Pac and the House Majority Pac...
7. George Soros, $17m. Net worth: $8.3bn. Politics: Liberal...
Read More, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/02/midterm-spending-top-political-donors-sheldon-adelson
stuffmatters
(2,574 posts)Since The Koch Bros have come up with millions more for Repub Pravda as the races got tighter for their Koch Puppet Reps & Senate & Gov & every down ballot, local race where they operate/pollute. And don't forget those hyperbolic, saturation Kavanaugh ads...funded by the Koch propaganda network...they even said they were donating millions to his conformation drive... which the RW saw as essential going into the 2018 campaign.( And, of course, the coup de gras for their lifelong goal of a Koch owned Fascist Five on SCOTUS)
I respect The Guardian a lot. But this is a terribly misleading, Koch Bros shielding article. The Koch Bros "Network" is both the
economic and ideological infrastructure of the Republican Party and ultimately the Koch Bros are the employer they must all satisfy once elected.
appalachiablue
(41,053 posts)and organizations probably, but it should be noted.