USA TODAY International Edition
Crowded field sidelines Dems’ donors
Some want to wait until 2020 field shakes out
WASHINGTON – When it comes to the 2020 presidential election, some prominent Democratic donors are putting patience ahead of long-held allegiances.
In a break with past elections, when financiers fell in line behind favored candidates, the potentially crowded field for the Democratic nomination has driven some donors to sit tight rather than commit – even if that means putting old relationships on ice.
“I haven’t even started to think about 2020,” said Daniel Berger, a Philadelphia lawyer who backed President Barack Obama’s campaigns. He was an early supporter of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 bid but isn’t aligning himself with former Vice President Joe Biden – or anyone else – as a possible candidate. “Call me back in 45 days,” he said. Early jockeying for the opportunity to take on President Donald Trump in 2020 is well underway, including donor meetings across the country, contributors told USA TODAY. But the unwieldy number of would-be candidates is reshuffling the race for cash and forcing some donors to rethink alliances.
Democratic donor Marc Stanley, a Dallas attorney, created a super PAC during the midterm election that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to boost Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s progressive Senate bid in Texas. But as he looks ahead to the presidential race, he isn’t necessarily committing to an O’Rourke campaign for the White House.
Instead, Stanley said he’s primarily focused on winning. “This isn’t about the shiniest penny,” he said. “We’ve got to focus in early and pick the candidate who can help evict Donald Trump.”
O’Rourke raised more than $80 million in his unsuccessful campaign to unseat Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, sparking talk of a presidential campaign.
Several prominent Democratic donors and bundlers told USA TODAY they are eager to focus the field and avoid the drawn-out conflict both parties endured in 2016. But many also acknowledged no candidate has emerged with a lock on the party’s prolific donors.
That’s prompting some donors to sit tight. A spokesman for liberal donor George Soros told CNBC that the billionaire may not pick a candidate in the primary. In 2016, he gave more than $300,000 to Hillary Clinton.
“I’m going to wait a bit just to see how it begins to shape up,” said Dick Rosenthal of Cincinnati, who bundled contributions for Clinton. “My involvement won’t happen to any degree until there is a clear, leading candidate.”
Roughly three dozen Democrats are considering a run for president in 2020, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who raised more than $35 million for her reelection this year in Massachusetts. Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Cory Booker of New Jersey, who are also considering running, raised millions in 2018 despite not facing election.
Adding to the uncertainty for donors is the weight campaigns are increasingly giving to small-dollar donations, which propelled Trump in the general election and extended Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ primary campaign against Clinton. That dynamic might benefit lesser-known candidates who don’t have deep-pocketed backers.
Michael Malbin, executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute, said small-dollar donations are likely to arrive later in the race as voters get a better sense of the candidates.
“It doesn’t take a huge amount money to become a credible candidate,” Malbin said. “I don’t think the problem in a primary is whether or not you can be heard in the state of Iowa. The problem is to differentiate yourself.”
Some prominent Democrats said they’re comfortable letting that process play out over an extended period. Tom Steyer, a billionaire investor who is also considering his own campaign for president in 2020, said he believes prominent donors made a mistake in 2016 by getting behind Clinton so early.
Steyer spent more than $90 million on candidates in 2016 and organized an early fundraiser for Clinton at his home in San Francisco.
“I don’t like the idea of clearing the field,” Steyer said. “I think that that did not serve us well in 2016 and it wouldn’t serve us well in 2020.”