DeVos family among McConnell's biggest donors
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her family rank eighth on my list of biggest donors to the political causes of U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell at $2,280,300.
Like all top donors in my analysis, most of the DeVos family’s contributions ($2,250,000) were made last year to the super PAC run by McConnell allies to elect Republicans to the U.S. Senate in 2016 – Senate Leadership Fund.
Super PACs like Senate Leadership Fund can accept contributions of unlimited amounts.
On Feb. 7 the Senate confirmed President Trump’s appointment of Betsy DeVos as education secretary on a vote of 51-50 with Vice President Mike Pence casting the tie-breaking vote.
My list of top donors to McConnell causes is headed by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam, of Las Vegas, who last fall put themselves in a class by themselves on this list by giving $35 million to Senate Leadership Fund.
The list is my analysis of contributions between Jan. 1, 2009 through Dec. 31, 2016 to four McConnell committees: McConnell’s Senate re-election committee, his own PAC called Bluegrass Committee, a super PAC for his Kentucky priorities called Kentuckians for Strong Leadership, and Senate Leadership Fund.
Over the eight-year period, the four committees have raised $159.8 million – the vast majority of that came in giant contributions to Senate Leadership Fund. So this list is dominated by people and corporations who gave six-figure and seven-figure contributions to that fund in the past year.
If the contributor listed below is the name of just a person, all of the money was contributed by that person and his or her immediate family. If a corporation is also listed, the contribution total includes any contributions of officials of that corporation and their spouses, the corporation PAC, and the corporation itself.
TOP 25 DONORS to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s political causes between Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2016:
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson and Las Vegas Sands Corp., Las Vegas, casinos: $35,038,500
Paul Singer and Elliott Management, New York, hedge funds: $6,124,800
W. Ed Bosarge Jr. and Petrodome Energy, Houston, energy: $4,185,400
Warren Stephens and Stephens Inc., Little Rock, investment banking: $3,751,300
Stephen Schwarzman and Blackstone Group, New York, private equity: $3,464,225
Robert McNair, Houston, energy, electric power generation, owner of Houston Texans: $3,002,500
Access Industries, New York, natural resources, chemicals, media, real estate: $2,500,000
DeVos family, including Betsy DeVos, the newly-confirmed U.S. Secretary of Education, Grand Rapids, Michigan: $2,280,300
Kenneth Griffin and Citadel Investment, Chicago, financial services: $2,190,400
Chevron, Concord, California, energy: $2,058,800
Bernard Marcus, Atlanta, retired chairman of Home Depot, retail stores: $2,005,200
Station Casinos, Zuffa LLC and Fertitta family, Las Vegas, casinos, sports promotion: $1,527,100
Craig and Richard Duchossois, Elmhurst, Ill., directors of Churchill Downs, horse racing: $1,165,600
ConocoPhillips and its subsidiary Polar Tankers, Houston, oil tankers, $1,022,100
Michael S. Smith, Boulder, Colorado, Kaitar Resources, business consulting: $1,002,500
Annette Simmons, Dallas, GOP donor and philanthropist: $1,000,000
John W. Childs, Boston and Vero Beach, J.W. Childs Associates, private equity: $995,200
Cliff Asness, New York, AQR Capital Management, investment management: $900,000
NextEra Energy, Juno Beach, Fla., parent of Florida Power & Light: $896,000
William E. Oberndorf, San Francisco, Oberndorf Enterprises, financial services: $852,600
Devon Energy, Oklahoma City, oil and gas: $769,600
Philip Anschutz and Anschutz Corp., Denver, oil, entertainment, real estate, other: $750,000
Alliance Coal and its president Joe Craft, Tulsa, Okla., coal mining: $679,150
Sam Fox and family, St. Louis, chairman of Harbour Group, private equity: $612,800
David Jones Sr. and wife Betty, Louisville, retired Humana executive: $585,000
» NOTE: I’ve eliminated from this list contributions from two political committees: One Nation, a type of super PAC whose donors are not disclosed that is also run by close McConnell allies, has given $21.7 million to Senate Leadership Fund; and American Crossroads, a major Republican super PAC that works closely with McConnell’s super PACs, has given $1,150,000 to Senate Leadership Fund.
» NOTE: This list represents my best effort to determine the largest contributors within $159.8 million in contributions to McConnell political committees between Jan. 1, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2016. Those committees are: McConnell’s committee for election to the U.S. Senate ($30.6 million); McConnell’s personal PAC called Bluegrass Committee ($4.9 million); the McConnell super PAC devoted to Kentucky elections called Kentuckians for Strong Leadership ($9.6 million); and the McConnell super PAC to support election of Republicans to the U.S. Senate in 2016 called Senate Leadership Fund ($114.7 million).