Volkswacht Bodensee - From tech giants to anonymous nonprofits, the biggest donors in US midterms

The biggest donors, as of October 21, have made contributions to both parties and to special interest groups, such as super political action committees (PACs) lobbying for deregulated AI and cryptocurrency.

World's richest man and Republican ally Elon Musk has donated over $365 million, including $278 million since July 1. According to campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets, this makes him the largest individual contributor in a federal election cycle since unlimited election spending was allowed in 2010.

"We're on track to have the most expensive midterm elections in US history", Michael Beckel, director of money in politics reform at bipartisan advocacy organisation Issue One, told AFP.

AFP analysed contributions since November 6, 2024, counting businesses and their leaders, as well as business partners and/or spouses as a single contributor where relevant, based on a New York Times methodology to track campaign finances.

- Tech giants -

Of the top 15 biggest contributors, five are in tech, particularly in the AI and cryptocurrency sectors.

These donors, who tend to favour deregulation in their industries, are "pumping massive sums of money into US elections hoping to elect politicians who will advance their preferred policy positions," Beckel said.

Venture capitalists and business partners Marc Andreessen and Benjamin Horowitz have spent over $113 million so far.

They donated $50 million to the pro-AI super PAC Leading the Future and $46.8 million to Fairshake, a cryptocurrency super PAC.

They also donated $12 million to US President Donald Trump's Make America Great Again (MAGA) Inc super PAC.

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has donated close to $57 million in total this election cycle, including donations from its CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong.

Ripple Labs, another crypto firm, and its co-founder Chris Larsen have donated over $68 million.

The majority of those two companies' contributions were to Fairshake.

The Winklevoss brothers Cameron and Tyler, major figures of the crypto landscape, donated to MAGA Inc and to their own pro-crypto super PAC.

Musk's donations have mostly gone to his Republican-leaning America PAC, as well as to the Republican Senate Leadership Fund super PAC (SLF).

The SLF used Musk's $158 million donations in September to support Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas.

- 'Dark money' -

Four anonymous nonprofit groups, known as 501C4 organisations or dark money groups, are amongst the top 15 donors this election cycle.

These nonprofits fund campaign finance but are not legally required to publicly disclose their donors.

"Dark money spending has been increasing year over year, and it is a troubling trend because voters should be able to know who is financing the ads that they see", Shanna Ports, Senior Legal Counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, told AFP.

One Nation, a Republican nonprofit group, gave almost $138 million to the SLF.

The American Action Network, another Republican dark money group, has contributed over $64 million to the Republican Congressional Leadership Fund, which is the SLF's counterpart for electing Republicans to the House.

Two Democratic nonprofit groups -- House Majority Forward and Majority Forward -- respectively contributed $95 million to the House Majority PAC and $104 million to the Senate Majority PAC.

Both focus on getting Democratic candidates elected to Congress.

- Historic donors -

Some historic donors have continued giving this election cycle.

Billionaire couple Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein donated over $135 million this election cycle to support Republicans.

George Soros, a longtime Democratic donor, has contributed at least $102 million.

The Israeli American businesswomen and conservative political donor Miriam Adelson gave close to $67 million to various Republican PACs.

Other big donors on the list are billionaire businessman Jeff Yass, who has donated $109 million so far, mostly to Republican groups, as well as hedge fund manager Paul Singer, who donated over $52 million, also to Republican groups.

Billionaire ex-mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg has spent $52.6 million so far, including around $30 million in contributions made after September 1.

His team told the New York Times he will spend $80 million in September and October.

M.Vogt--VB