Bloomberg Outspends Adelson, Politics’ Biggest Donor, On 2018 Midterms
Image by getty images
The race is on between the billionaires funding the 2018 midterm elections.
Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, were named last month by the New York Times as the “biggest spenders on federal elections in all of American politics,” citing publicly available campaign finance data. But this year specifically, the Jewish megadonors may be outspent.
The couple has given $55 million in the last few months in hopes of securing Republican control of the House and Senate. The Democrats, however, have former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s financial support, which is heading toward $100 million.
The Jewish billionaire and potential 2020 presidential candidate met and will surpass his initial goal of $80 million — he is giving $20 million to the main Democratic Senate super PAC this week, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
While Bloomberg’s contributions are double that of the Adelsons’, it is actually a big year for the billionaire couple as well. During the midterms of 2014, they donated only $382,000 to federal campaigns by Aug. 31, according to the Times, giving $5.5 million overall. At this time in 2016, the year of the presidential election, they donated $46.5 million.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
