Donors are choosing sides in Maryland governor’s race

Across Maryland — and across the country — the rich and famous are choosing sides in the Free State’s 2018 race for governor. Hundreds of powerful people — from wealthy lawyers to media moguls — have already maxed out their legal donations giving to incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan or one of his seven Democratic party challengers.

Here are some highlights fromcampaign finance filings:

With more than $8 million in his account alone — and more than $9 million if you include Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford’s fundraising — Gov. Larry Hogan has more cash on hand than all his Democratic opponents combined. He has more than 100 donations from individuals and businesses who gave the maximum amount allowable by law — $6,000. Perhaps his highest profile donor is Kansas-based Koch Industries, run by Charles and David Koch, the billionaire conservative financiers.

Democratic challenger Jim Shea, former chairman of the Venable law firm, has contributed $534,000 to his own campaign and raised $584,000 from more than 200 people connected to Venable. He received more than 100 maximum contributions and has $1.3 million on hand.

Former NAACP president Ben Jealous had more than 70 maximum contributions. They include $12,000 from the comedian Dave Chappelle and his wife Elaine; $12,000 from music executive Kevin Liles and his wife Erika; $12,000 from billionaire George Soros and his son, Gregory.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamentez — who with $2 million on hand is the best-financed Democrat in the field — had more than 25 maximum contributions. More than 92 percent of his contributions were from Maryland, the highest total in the field, and he has a lot of support from Baltimore-area developers. His maximum contributions come from developers Howard Brown, Mark Sapperstein and Edward St. John and $12,000 from family members of Orioles majority owner Peter Angelos.