June 3, 2015

These 8 Republican Sugar Daddies Are Already Placing Their Bets on 2016

It’s not just the Koch brothers.

    — By the MoJo News Team


The 2016 election is more than a year and a half away, but conservative megadonors are already picking their favorite candidates:

Megadonor 2016 pick Meeting of the minds
Norman Braman
Billionaire car dealer and former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles

Marco Rubio

 Rubio is “the candidate of today and tomorrow,” Braman tells Mother Jones. “Read his book and you’ll see.”
Robert Mercer
Hedge Fund magnate and the owner of a $2 million model train set

Ted Cruz

 Mercer’s firm has been accused of dodging $6 billion in taxes; Cruz has mused about abolishing the IRS.
Foster Friess
Crocodile hunting mutual fund financier

Rick Santorum

 Friess, who joked about aspirin’s contraceptive powers while backing Santorum in 2012, told the Washington Post, “I am clearly in the Santorum camp.”
Larry Ellison
Founder of Oracle and owner of a private Hawaiian island

Rubio

 Ellison is holding a big-ticket fundraiser for the candidate at his $200 million Japanese-style Silicon Valley estate.*
Ken Langone
Home Depot cofounder who once said, “I’m nuts, I’m rich, and boy, do I love a fight!”

Chris Christie

 Langone, who initially supported Christie in 2012, has offered to build a bridge between his donor network and the New Jersey governor.
Sheldon Adelson
Casino tycoon who dropped more than $93 million to defeat Obama in 2012

Rubio…maybe

 Adelson has received visits from Rubio, but is staying coy. His spokesman told Politico, “He’s going to keep his powder dry until he needs to weigh in.”
Charles and David Koch Billionaire bros who have vowed to spend $900 million in 2016

Scott Walker…maybe

 David Koch reportedly likes Walker’s chances, but the brothers plan to hold “auditions” for GOP candidates this summer.

Correction: This story originally reported that Ellison had held a fundraiser for Rand Paul and may back him. Politico reports that Paul only attended the event and Ellison has committed to Rubio.

More Mother Jones reporting on Dark Money

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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