Billionaire-Clan Donations Are Backing GOP Over Democrats by 7-1 in Key Senate Races
The seven battleground states are Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
By William Rice
Billionaire families are spending heavily on seven U.S. Senate elections that will likely decide control of the chamber next year, according to a new report from Americans for Tax Fairness. The analysis also revealed that these super-rich clans are supporting Republicans over Democrats in these races at the startling ratio of seven to one. Since presumably a top political goal of the hyper-wealthy is to stay that way through low taxation, it’s safe to assume billionaires are exhibiting this pronounced partisan tilt because Democrats have a tendency to raise rich people’s taxes while Republicans have a history of cutting them.
The seven battleground states are Arizona, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. As of late August, billionaire families had donated $77 million to groups supporting the GOP senate candidates in those states vs. $11 million in contributions to organizations backing the Democrats. The figures are undoubtedly much higher now.
The dollar amounts are so big because, first, the billionaire families can afford it, but equally important because these are donations not directly to candidates or parties, as those have legal limits. Instead they went to outside spending groups, so-called super PACs, that can collect as much as they can finagle out of each donor. This two-track campaign-finance system was brought to us by the Supreme Court’s infamous 2010 Citizens United decision, which has facilitated the snowballing billionaire influence over our democracy.
Two of the races where billionaire-family support is particularly lopsided are those in Montana and Ohio. In Big Sky Country, Republican businessman Tim Sheehy is trying to unseat incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Tester. According to financial disclosure filings, Sheehy is worth up to $200 million (data is reported in ranges rather than specific figures), which would make him among the wealthiest senators if he gains the seat. Billionaire families must have spotted a kindred spirit, because, of the $24 million used to support Sheehy by the biggest spending super PACs (those spending at least $100,000 on the race), about three-quarters, or a whopping $18 million, came from billionaires as of late August.
Tester voted for the Biden-Harris administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which created several tax reforms impacting billionaires via their extensive corporate stock portfolios, including a minimum corporate tax and a tax on share repurchases. His support for higher taxes on the rich has won Tester few friends among the billionaire class. Among the top outside spenders on behalf of his campaign, less than half a million bucks (or about 3%) came from billionaire clans.
In Ohio, three-term Democratic incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown is fighting off a challenge from Republican businessman Bernie Moreno. Brown has been voting against cutting taxes on the rich and in favor of raising them ever since he joined Congress as a House member over 30 years ago. That record includes supporting the Clinton administration’s upper-income tax hikes in the early ‘90s and the IRA just two years ago; along with opposing legislation reducing taxes on the wealthy proposed by presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump. Not surprising, then, that only about $65,000 of the biggest outside spending on his behalf can be sourced to billionaire families.
Moreno, in contrast, has called for the permanent extension of all the 2017 Trump-GOP tax cuts set to expire next year, including those exclusively benefitting the super rich. Close to half–43%, or over $12 million–of spending by the most active super PACs backing him comes from billionaire clans.
Across all seven races, no Democrat’s major outside support has included more than about 20% billionaire donations. No Republican’s big super PAC backers have been working with less than about half billionaire cash.
This latest analysis is part of an ATF series of “billionaires buying elections” reports that began several years ago. This campaign season is the first in which ATF has analyzed political spending not just by individual billionaires but by whole billionaire families to better capture the electoral power of these economic dynasties.
Focus this election season has for obvious reasons been on the tight and consequential presidential race. But whoever wins the White House will need support from Congress to move a program forward, including a major overhaul of the tax system due at the end of next year. That’s why it matters so much who wins these crucial Senate races and why billionaire families are weighing in so decisively–and so decidedly for one party.