Eleven donors plowed $1 billion since 2010 into super PACs, the big-money entities that have given wealthy contributors a powerful way to influence elections.
The list of donors — a bipartisan collection of hedge fund billionaires, entrepreneurs, media magnates, and a casino mogul — together contributed more than one-fifth of the $4.5 billion collected by super PACs since their inception in 2010, according to a Washington Post analysis of data from the Federal Election Commission and the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
The 11 biggest super PAC donors include five Republicans, five Democrats, and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, who previously had declared himself a political independent and this month registered as a Democrat.
The intense concentration of money shows how a tiny group of super-rich individuals has embraced these political groups, which have emerged as indispensable allies of candidates and political parties since the landmark Citizens United Supreme Court decision in 2010. That ruling helped give rise to super PACs, which are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on political activity.
The massive sums coming from just a handful of donors illustrate how candidates and parties are now dependent on billionaires to support their efforts — and demonstrate the successful circumvention of efforts to curtail big money in politics that followed the Watergate and 1996 DNC fund-raising scandals.
‘‘The big donor is not just a donor who gives to politicians and parties. The big donor has become a political actor in his own right,’’ said Robert E. Mutch, a campaign finance historian.
Indeed, many of the top 11 super PAC givers since 2010 are now well-known protagonists in US politics. Billionaire hedge fund founder George Soros (No. 10) was among a dozen critics of President Trump targeted with explosive devices this week. And Bloomberg (No. 3) and Democratic hedge fund founder Tom Steyer (No. 2) are viewed as positioning themselves for possible presidential runs.
Big money has continued to balloon in this year’s midterms, even amid a surge of small-dollar donations.
In some races, huge super PAC contributions are bolstering candidates who are touting their grass-roots support.
The largest super PAC contributors to date are casino mogul Sheldon Adelson and his physician wife, Miriam, who have given $287 million to conservative super PACs, records show.
In second place behind the Adelsons is Steyer, who gave $213.8 million.
He is followed by Bloomberg ($120.7 million), Democratic media executive Fred Eychaner ($74.1 million), Democratic hedge fund executive Donald Sussman ($62.9 million), GOP shipping supplies magnate Richard Uihlein ($61.3 million), Democratic hedge fund founder James Simons and his wife, Marilyn ($57.9 million), Republican hedge fund executive Paul Singer ($42.5 million), GOP hedge fund executive Robert Mercer ($41.2 million), Soros ($39.4 million), and Republican backer and TD Ameritrade founder J. Joe Ricketts ($38.4 million).
