Ultra-wealthy dominate funding for super PACs

10 give over 20% of cash pouring in for midterms

WASHINGTON — Donations from 10 super-rich individuals account for more than 20% of the money filling the bank accounts of federal super PACs, a USA TODAY analysis shows, highlighting how a small group of wealthy patrons is racing to influence which party will control Congress for the remainder of President Trump’s first term.

Leading the pack: Illinois-based packaging and shipping magnate Richard “Dick” Uihlein, who has donated nearly $19.5 million so far to groups working to elect conservative Republicans to Congress from Mississippi to Montana. Uihlein-funded groups have trained much of their millions on advertising in Wisconsin to attack first-term Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and to boost a political newcomer, Republican Kevin Nicholson.

Uihlein is on track to fast outpace the $19.6 million he spent on federal races during the 2016 election, according to a tally by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. His midterm donations now surpass those of Tom Steyer, a Democratic billionaire who has dominated political spending for the past two election cycles. Steyer has donated $15.7 million to his super PAC this year, making him the second-largest donor so far and the top Democrat.

In all, super PAC donors have contributed $284.9 million to the more than 500 super PACs that have raised any money in the 2018 election cycle. That’s nearly twice the $145.8 million that donors gave to these kinds of groups at this point during the last congressional midterm elections in 2014.

Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money from virtually any source to influence elections.

The USA TODAY analysis examined the top individual political donations to super PACs between Jan.1, 2017, and Jan. 31, 2018, according to the most recent data available from the Federal Election Commission. Ten people — five Democrats and five Republicans — contributed at least $2 million apiece to super PACs during that period, giving a total of $59.7 million.

The early fundraising surge underscores the intensity of this year’s battle for control of Congress. The party in power typically loses seats in Congress in a new president’s first term, and Trump’s surprise 2016 victory has angered and energized Democratic donors and activists. Democrats need to add just two seats to seize control of the Senate and 24 to have the majority in the House.

Michael Malbin, executive director of the non-partisan Campaign Finance Institute, said the early scramble to shape this year’s midterms mirrors the jockeying typical in presidential contests, in which candidates race to build massive super PAC war chests as a sign of financial strength.

“We never used to see this kind of spending in congressional elections at this time in the cycle,” he said. The mega-donors playing an early role in midterms will have enormous sway in “encouraging new candidates to emerge” and “a disproportionate influence on which issues are discussed” in the election, he said.

The super PAC spending gives the public a small snapshot of the money and prominent players in federal politics. Millions more will be spent on congressional races through politically active non-profit groups that do not have to disclose their donors’ identities.

Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, for instance, is among the top 10 super PAC donors of the 2018 midterms, giving $3 million through his personal trust to Freedom Partners Action Fund, a super PAC aligned with his political empire. The donation, however, is a tiny slice of the $400 million his conservative donor network has committed to spend on politics and policy during the two-year election cycle.