The nation’s wealthy opened their wallets in August in anticipation of the election season, donating millions to super PACs supporting Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump and Democrats and Republicans across the country, according to monthly reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. Friday
The largest single contributor donations went to pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc., and Wisconsin rooftop billionaire Diane Hendricks, a prolific GOP megadonor, gave $10 million to the group.
Howard Lutnick, CEO of financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald, and Paul Singer, president of investment management company Elliott Management, gave MAGA Inc. $5 million.
Annette Caldwell Simmons, widow of businessman Harold Simmons, gave $2 million to MAGA Inc., and Warren Stephens, CEO of investment bank Stephens Inc., gave $1 million.
On the Democratic side, tech entrepreneurs were the biggest donors to FF PAC, known as Future Forward, a super PAC supporting Harris’ presidential bid.
The biggest donors to the group in August were Facebook and Asana co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings and Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson and his wife Erika.
Moskovitz donated $3 million to the FF PAC, and Hastings, Jeff Lawson and Erica Lawson each donated $1 million.
Hastings, a major Democratic supporter, was one of the largest Democratic donors. Publicly calling on President Joe Biden to step aside from his re-election campaign earlier this year.
The reports released Friday only included donations from Aug. 1 to Aug. 31, the first full month Harris was the presumptive and later Democratic presidential candidate.
Super PACs like FF PAC and MAGA Inc. are havens for prolific political megadonors like Hendricks, Lutnick and Hastings because, unlike campaigns and their associated committees, super PACs have no limits on how much individuals can donate.
Further down the ballot, the Growth Action Club, a conservative super PAC that bolsters GOP congressional and Senate candidates, received two large donations of $5 million each in August from Jeff Yass, co-founder of the Susquehanna International Group, a trade group. Richard Uihlein, founder of Uline shipping company.
Yass and Uihlein are major GOP megadonors who have contributed to the Club for Growth and other conservative groups for multiple election cycles.
On the Democratic side, House Majority PAC, a group that energizes Democrats running for Congress, received $600,000 from Continental Cablevision co-founder Amos Hostetter Jr. in August, the largest donation to the group for this filing period.
Hostetter has history Donating to anti-Trump groups.