Who is Arizonan who gave $1M for Trump’s inauguration?
The disclosure last week of President Donald Trump’s inauguration funders revealed some of his biggest Arizona benefactors.
Trump’s 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee collected an impressive $107 million from supporters, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan watchdog group the Center for Responsive Politics, 91 percent of the committee’s money came from 250 people who gave $100,000 or more to help stage Trump’s gala.
Billionaire Go Daddy founder Bob Parsons of Scottsdale gave $1 million, which put him in the top echelon of Trump inauguration givers. Parsons was the only Arizonan to give $1 million or more.
Other Arizonan donors of note include:
» Lloyd Claycomb of Scottsdale, the chief executive of Westminster, Colorado-based United Builders Service, gave $100,000. United Builders Service’s website describes the company as a “Drywall and Metal Framing Specialty Contractor.”
» Don Tapia, a business leader and philanthropist from Paradise Valley, gave $100,000. Tapia used to own Essco Wholesale Electric Inc., which grew into Arizona’s biggest Hispanic-owned business.
» Gary Rieschel, a Scottsdale wine connoisseur who owns an Italian winemaker called Cerbaiona, gave $100,000.
» Larry Polhill gave $25,000. His LinkedIn page identifies him as a consultant to bakery company Cafe Valley Inc. and a past chairman and director of Inventure Foods Inc., the maker of snacks such as Poore Brothers brand kettle potato chips. He listed a corporate Cafe Valley facility address on West Buckeye Road in Phoenix with his donation.
» The Apollo Education Group, parent company of the private University of Phoenix, gave $25,000.
» Thomas Gilman of Scottsdale-based Greenstar Consulting Group gave $6,600.
» Ioanna Morfessis, the former president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, gave $200.
» State Rep. Maria Syms, R-Paradise Valley, appears to have given three $100 contributions for a total of $300.
Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino titan who also owns the Las Vegas Review Journal, was Trump’s No. 1 donor for the inauguration. He gave $5 million.