Ten Donors Funnel 19 Million to Conservative Groups for Midterms
Politico has a story that notes today’s conservative movement is essentially getting bankrolled by ten wealthy donors. Having shied away during the end of the George W. Bush presidency and the failed presidential bid of Sen. John McCain, many of the same Bush-era donors — like Bob Perry and fellow Texan Harold Simmons, who put up big money for the infamous swift boat attack ads against Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004 — are back in the business of funding the conservative movement:
“„Since Obama took office, ten of the most active conservative donors identified by a POLITICO analysis have contributed $19 million to Republican candidates and the political committees that boost them — a pace that far eclipses their giving at this point in the 2006 and 2008 election cycles, according to professional fundraisers, as well as anything big Democratic donors have done.
That number includes donor’s personal contributions, as well as contributions from their immediate family members and corporations, but it doesn’t include whatever amount of money they may have given to section 501(c)4 groups like Crossroads GPS and Americans for Job Security, which under current law (and the FEC interpretation of it) aren’t required to reveal their donors.
The top donors include Texas homebuilder Bob Perry ($2.9 million), billionaire investor Harold Simmons ($2.7 million), natural gas billionaire Trevor Rees-Jones ($2.3 billion) and former Univision chairman Jerry Pernchio ($1.8 million). You can see the whole list along with short bios here.
