In a campaign characterized by big donors, casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, stand out. The couple's latest blizzard of political check writing -- which produced more than $15 million of donations to Republican candidates and causes in a one week period this month -- brought their total political contributions for the 2012 cycle to a whopping $52 million.
The next closest big campaign donor, billionaire nuclear waste entrepreneur Harold Simmons, has given $23 million.
The Adelsons lead a roster of 134 individuals or organizations giving $1 million or more to campaigns in this, the first presidential campaign to ...
Continue readingOutside political spending crosses $1 billion mark
Outside groups have spent more than $1 billion trying to influence this year's election, and the tidal wave of special interest money so no signs of abating in the 10 days that remain before Election Day.
The total, tabulated by Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money, is especially mind-boggling considering that it comes in a campaign that has focused largely on the anemic economy and underscores the changed landscape in the first presidential campaign to be contested following the Supreme Court 2010 decision in Citizens United, which opened the door for deep-pocketed donors to flaunt their wealth in ways ...
Continue readingEleventh hour political donations marked by Adelson largesse
A casino-fueled and Israel-inspired power couple that so far has underwritten Republican candidates and causes to the tune of more than $35 million in the 2012 campaign continued its open-handed ways in the closing weeks of the contest.
The final accountings of campaign committees before Election Day are due at the Federal Election Commission at midnight Thursday and early returns show big contributions from Sheldon and Miriam Adelson in the first two weeks of October.
Sheldon Adelson, who owns the Las Vegas Sands Corp. as well as casinos in Bethelehem, Pa., Singapore and Macau, gave $1.5 million Independence Virginia ...
Continue readingCorporate, union and nonprofit giving to super PACs tops $167 million
Approximately one-third of the money that super PACs have collected so far in the 2012 campaign come from organizations such as corporations, labor unions and other political committees.
Continue readingA sketch of the Stealthy Wealthy
Here are some of the donors we've featured so far in our continuing Stealthy Wealthy series. Keep watching for more. Meanwhile, Sunlight will be watching to see what these business people are seeking as a return on their investments.
Continue readingPolitical donors’ million dollar check club: September edition
A relative handful of mega-donors capable of writing seven-figure checks, thanks to the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United that opened the door for unlimited campaign contributions, have fuelled this fall's dizzying rise in outside political spending, which jumped from $14 million the week ending Sept. 1 to $110 million the week ending Oct. 20, according to Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker.
In September, 25 individuals or organizations wrote checks of $1 million or more to super PACs, according to Sunlight's analysis of the last full month of campaign expenditure reports that we will see ...
Continue readingSex and taxes: What the Romney returns and the Edwards precedent say about political slush funds
The cloak and dagger tale circulating on the Internet about a group of hackers who claim to have purloined old tax returns of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and say they will release them to whomever is first to pay their ransom suggests why a federal court case that absolved former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards of campaign finance crimes was wrongly decided.
During his 2008 campaign, Edwards relied on the largesse of two wealthy Democratic donors to keep his affair with campaign worker Rielle Hunter secret. Edwards' campaign did not report the donations, nor did it report the payments ...
Continue readingProtesters evicted at Republican convention event
“What have I done to be kicked off the property?” retired teacher Karen Saal asked a security guard outside the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore Hotel. The guard's answer: the hotel manager specifically asked that she go. And she wasn't alone. Officials were also ushering peace activists off the hotel property after they interrupted a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) honoring pro-Israel members of Congress during the Republican National Convention.
Saal, from Oregon, is against the "militarism" of Israel and the United States but said she was not protesting. She said she was just in the parking ...
Continue readingSheldon Adelson writes another million dollar check for new super PAC
Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, the most prolific campaign contributor this election, has written another million dollar check--this time, to a little-known super PAC called "Freedom PAC" that first popped-up last month. The contribution was disclosed in the group's quarterly filing, submitted to the Federal Election Commission on Monday.
According to it's website, the PAC--which lists a New York address--is devoted to "supporting strong conservative candidates in Florida," in particular Rep. Connie Mack, who's running for senate.
Besides Adelson's contribution, the PAC took in $91,000, including $5,000 from Contran CEO Harold Simmons, who's also ...
Adelson gives Gingrich a lifeline
In February, casino magnate and pro-Israel advocate Sheldon Adelson, along with his wife, Miriam, bet $5 million more on Newt Gingrich's flagging presidential bid by contributing to his super PAC, Winning our Future. This makes the couple the source of five out of six dollars raised by the super PAC since it launched late last year. Their daughter, Shelley, contributed another $500,000.
Gingrich has not been nearly as lucky with fundraising the traditional way. Paperwork filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission suggests that Newt 2012 is under water. Gingrich's campaign reported had $1.5 million in ...
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