Rich and powerful choose sides in Maryland governor's race

[TexasTowelie]

he Koch brothers. George Soros. Dave Chappelle. Silicon Valley executives. Hollywood actresses.

Across Maryland — and across the country — the rich and famous are choosing sides in the Free State’s 2018 race for governor.

Hundreds of powerful people — from wealthy lawyers to media moguls — have already maxed out their legal donations giving to incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan or one of his seven Democratic party challengers.

Here are some highlights from last week’s campaign finance filings:

• With more than $8 million in his account alone — and more than $9 million if you include Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford’s fundraising — Gov. Larry Hogan has more cash on hand than all his Democratic opponents combined. He has more than 100 donations from individuals and businesses who gave the maximum amount allowable by law — $6,000 — including many business executives from across the state. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s brother Todd gave Hogan the maximum contribution, as did Howard Research and Development, the company that helped build Columbia. Perhaps his highest profile donor is Kansas-based Koch Industries, run by Charles and David Koch, the billionaire conservative financiers.

Read more: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-big-donations-governor-20180119-story.html

[elleng]

1. 'Former NAACP president Ben Jealous, another Democratic challenger,

had more than 70 maximum contributions. They include: $12,000 from the comedian Dave Chappelle and his wife Elaine; $12,000 from music executive Kevin Liles and his wife Erika; $12,000 from billionaire George Soros and his son, Gregory; $6,000 from Ben & Jerry’s ice cream co-founder Ben Cohen; and $6,000 from Google vice president Bradley Horowitz. He and his running mate Susan Turnbull have more than $640,000 on hand. . .

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamentez — who with $2 million on hand is the best-financed Democrat in the field — had more than 25 maximum contributions. More than 92 percent of his contributions were from Maryland, the highest total in the field, and he has a lot of support from Baltimore-area developers. His maximum contributions come from developers Howard Brown, Mark Sapperstein and Edward St. John and $12,000 from family members of Orioles majority owner Peter Angelos.

• Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker has more than 25 maximum contributions and was favored by business executives in the Washington area. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller gave him $6,000, while multi-millionaire Potomac businessman David Trone and his family chipped in $27,000. He has nearly $700,000 on hand.>