The bipartisan Open Secrets blog reported that a small number of Americans, led by George Soros, donated $100 million to Presidential Super PACs in the second half of 2015.
Federal Election Commission filings of 21 different Super PACs supporting the top 13 major party candidates show “29 individuals or organizations who gave $1 million or more” for a total of $99.4 million collected in a six-month period. Adding in the 13 campaign committees, to total raised in the second half of 2015 was $260 million.
Democrat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pocketed the largest individual single Super PAC donation with a $6 million coming from liberal billionaire George Soros’ ‘Priorities USA Action.’
Other top 10 individual donors to Priorities USA Action to help Hillary Clinton included: $3 million from Haim Saban, $1.6 million from Laure Woods, and $1.5 million from Donald Sussman.
Soros also gave $2 million to another Super PAC backing Clinton called American Bridge.
The largest individual contributor to a Republican was hedge fund manager Paul Singer who endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in November and made a $2.5 million contribution to Conservative Solutions PAC. Singer recruited $3.5 million from two billionaire friends: Kenneth C. Griffin and Cliff Asness, who often give to the same candidates as Singer.
Clinton’s led all candidates by raising a total of $115.6 million in total campaign and Super PAC donations in 2015, about the same as her total in 2007.
According to Open Secrets: “Her campaign account raising a whopping $38.2 million in contributions in the last three months of 2015. It didn’t stick around long: The campaign spent all but about $83,000 of it. Her nest egg from earlier fundraising allowed her to close the year with almost $38 million.”
Democrat Sen. Bernie Sanders‘ (D-Vt.) led all candidates in the fourth quarter for individual donations directly to his campaign with more than $33.5 million. For all of 2015, his $75 million fund raising for his campaign account was second only to then-Sen. Barack Obama, who raised $102.2 million in 2007.
According to Open Secrets: “Sanders spent $32.4 million for the quarter, almost equivalent to his total in donations; nevertheless, he still had $28.3 million socked away as of Dec. 31.”
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