Meet the People Donating to Democratic Congressional Candidates
We’ve spent some time digging into the financial picture of the 2020 Democratic presidential contenders (here, here, here, and here). But what about the congressional candidates? In this article, we’re taking a look at Democratic congressional fundraising — with a focus on the donors this time.
We identified over 250 individuals who have, at this early stage in the cycle, already donated $10,000 or more to Democratic congressional candidates on the 2020 ballot — and some have donated significantly more than that. Together, they contributed nearly $4.7 million to Democratic congressional candidates in the first quarter of 2019. That’s a little less than half of all the money that all the Democratic candidates brought in from small-dollar contributors (donors that have given less than $200 total to a particular candidate). While they represent less than 1% of all itemized donors to Democratic candidates, their contributions account for a little more than 10% of all itemized donations (contributions greater than $199, that are individually reported and assigned to donors).
Who are they?
Three have already contributed over $100,000 each —S. Donald Sussman, John Dawson, and Alan Shepoiser. Mr. Sussman, from Florida, distributed over $170,000 all on the final day of the first quarter. He “maxed out” to both the primary and general campaigns of 31members, nearly all incumbents. Many were freshman, including Katie Hill and Katie Porter of California, Mikkie Sherrill in New Jersey, and Chris Pappas in New Hampshire. The only challenger receiving his contributions this quarter was Jaime Harrison, who is running to replace Sen. Lindsay Graham in South Carolina.
Mr. Dawson, a retired entrepreneur from Palo Alto, maxed out to both the primary and general election campaigns of 24 Democratic members of congress. Mr. Shepoiser, from Porter Ranch, CA, has mostly maxed-out only to candidates’ primary campaigns, and has done so for about 40 candidates across the country. The first woman on this “top donor” list is Karla Jurvetson, who has made over 20 max-out contributions, is a psychiatrist and philanthropist from Los Altos, CA.
Where are they?
These 250+ individuals reside in 26 states and the District of Columbia, and live in 119 cities and 168 different ZIP codes.
California represents the largest share of these donors. Eighty-one of them hail from the Golden State, collectively contributing about $1.6 million. Fifty-five reside in New York- the next most represented state- and, together, they chipped in about $900,000 last quarter. And while the donors in California hail from many different cities- predominately in the Los Angeles and Bay Area regions- the vast majority of New York’s dollars flow from NYC. Massachusetts is next, with 15 donors, bolstered by billionaire and hedge fund manager Seth Klarman of Boston.
What do they do?
Many on the list currently are “not employed” — having made fortunes earlier in life, they now have no day-to-day employment. The sources of those fortunes was often in the industries represented by the still-working members of the big donor list: financial services, real estate development, and the law. Financial services, in particular, is a very common industry for those choosing to spend significantly on Democratic politics. Perhaps with so many dollars coming from Silicon Valley, it should come as no surprise the number of big donors that are also investors/venture capitalists.
Unsurprisingly, these donors tend to have very senior roles in these very lucrative sectors, such as president, CEO, or managing partner. And while most political giving might be considered a form of lobbying, only a few of these big donors consider lobbying and/or government affairs to be their true profession: Michael Smith at Cornerstone Government Affairs, Chet Atkins at Tremont Strategies Group, and Mary Beth Stanton with Invariant.
When do they give?
It turns out big donors are just like the rest of us — they procrastinate. Or, perhaps, the campaigns that solicit their contributions just do. In either event, the overwhelming proportion of the funds from this group flowed to campaigns in March, the final month in the quarter.
Who are they giving to?
The top recipients of top donor cash tended to be candidates for Senate, rather than the House, with two challengers in key battleground states taking the most: Mark Kelly in Arizona, and Mike Johnston in Colorado. After senators, the overwhelming frontrunners for these top tier dollars were incumbent members of the House, especially freshman members in relatively tough districts: Rep. Tom Malinowski (NJ-7), Rep. Josh Harder (CA-10), Xochitl Torres Small (NM-2), Abigail Spanberger (VA-7), for example. The first challenger on the list is 38 candidates down, and is Ammar Campa-Najjar (~$30,000), who is running in a re-match against Rep. Duncan Hunter in San Diego.
These donors are clearly focused on keeping the Democratic majority in the House, and making progress in the Senate — 200 of them contributed at least $5,000 to candidates that live in a state other than their own, so they are thinking far beyond their own representation in Congress.
