Rich donors – including former GOP backer – spend millions for Senate Democrats

Last month, wealthy donors, including a former GOP backer, poured millions of dollars into the super Democratic Senate PAC, a sign of heightened hopes for control of the House.

The senatorial majority of the Senate, which works for the election of Democrats in the Senate, saw a strong recovery in August, to $ 17.6 million, well above its monthly average of 10.5 million fundraising of dollars. The super PAC has raised $ 94.4 million so far, compared to $ 61.5 million for its GOP counterpart, according to new federal election commission reports released Thursday night.

Seth Klarman, a Boston-based billionaire of hedge funds and a registered freelancer, who was once the largest GOP donor in New England, was one of the major donors to the PAC last month.

Klarman almost exclusively gives the Democrats this election in an attempt to help them regain control of Congress – which he sees as a necessary step to hold President Trump accountable.

Last month, Klarman gave $ 1 million to the Senate Senate and $ 2 million to the super PAC supporting House Democrats, according to the FEC archives.

Klarman, CEO of the Baupost Group, pledged to spend up to $ 20 million to support the Democrats this fall – which will place him squarely among the biggest donors to the super PAC, with the Democrat heavyweights such as Tom Steyer and George Soros. He also gave the maximum allowed contribution to the Democratic National Committee.

In comparison, Klarman donated $ 2.9 million to super PACs in 2016, mainly to support Republicans, according to a Washington Post analysis.

Klarman, who seldom talks to the media, recently told a New York Times editorialist that he felt "betrayed" by the "drifting" Republicans, claiming that GOP leaders in Washington were largely "cowardly" profiles. ".

"We have to make the Senate and the House a witness to Donald Trump and his presidential election," Klarman told The Times.

A spokeswoman for Baupost on Thursday highlighted Klarman's interview with The Times, and declined to provide further comment.

[Meet the wealthy donors pouring millions into the 2018 elections]

Last month, other wealthy donors spent considerable sums of money to support Democratic candidates in the Senate.

Republicans hold a slim majority of 51 seats in the upper house, but are generally considered to have done better in this mid-term election by maintaining a majority in the House. Democrats must take two seats in the Senate and defend 26 others, including five in double-digit Trump states.

Among the donors who spent a lot in August to support the Democrats were Soros, the founder of the hedge fund and the main Democratic backer, and Fred Eychaner, media mogul and head of Newsweb Corp.

Eychaner gave $ 4 million to the Senate PAC majority and Soros gave $ 1.4 million in August, according to the archives. Mr. Eychaner gave an additional $ 2 million last month to House Majority PAC, the super PAC that supports House Democrats.

The Senate Leadership Fund, the super PAC that supports Republican senators, raised $ 3.2 million in August. Among the largest donations in August were $ 1 million from Tennesse-based Pilot Corporation and $ 500,000 from Koch Industries.

In addition, the new statements released Thursday revealed donors to Red and Gold, a super PAC that formed just before the Arizona Senate primary race, which featured one of the most competitive contests of the fall .

Because the super PAC was organized so close to the primary elections, it was not necessary to disclose its donors before the end of the month – after the election. The super PAC raised $ 2.9 million in August and spent more than half on ads attacking Martha McSally, the favorite who won the GOP nomination.

Red and Gold announced they received $ 1.7 million from the Senate Senate. He also received $ 600,000 from Soros and $ 500,000 from James Simons, another major Democratic manager of donors and hedge funds.

The Republican National Committee once again posted strong figures for the month of August, which is consistent with its huge fundraising and war chest so far in this cycle. The RNC raised $ 16 million last month, compared to $ 9.2 million for the Democratic National Committee.

In total, the NCR collected $ 231 million in this election cycle – nearly double the $ 122.2 million the DNC has achieved so far this cycle. At the end of August, the CNS had $ 41.8 million in cash and the DNC had $ 8 million with a debt of $ 7 million.