The expensive field of electoral politics has taken away another share of the fortunes of businessmen aspiring to higher office.
Rep. David Trone, D-Md., a co-owner of Maryland’s largest wine retailer, has contributed to his Maryland Senate campaign, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. He invested more than $60 million of his personal fortune. He lost this week’s Democratic primary to County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, whose campaign spent about a tenth of that amount.
The day after Mr. Tron’s defeat, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, Silicon Valley investor Nicole Shanahan, who recently divorced Google co-founder Sergey Brin, announced that Mr. Kennedy would be independent. announced that it would double its investment in presidential elections. motion. An additional $8 million brings her total donations to nearly $15 million, even though no third-party or independent candidate has ever come close to winning a presidential election in modern U.S. history. .
Mr. Kennedy’s campaign has so far been only about half of this term’s most expensive self-funded presidential campaign. Republican entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy withdrew in January after spending more than $30 million of his personal fortune on an unsuccessful candidacy. $3,500 per vote received in the Iowa caucuses. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who sold his software company to Microsoft for $1 billion, didn’t go that far. After spending nearly $14 million on his presidential campaign, he resigned before a single vote was cast.
This is a long tradition in American politics. Wealthy people spend dizzying amounts of money to fuel their political ambitions, either through likely candidates or, as in Tron’s case, through campaigns that are likely to ultimately fail. Outside.
Self-funded campaigns aren’t necessarily a recipe for disaster. For example, Mr. Tron spent a total of $31.3 million of his fortune running in two House elections and was elected to Congress. He lost the 2016 Democratic primary to Jamie Raskin, but won the 2018 primary to succeed Rep. John Delaney, another wealthy Democrat. Jon S. Corzine, a liberal Wall Street executive, spent about $60 million ($108 million adjusted for inflation) to win a New Jersey Senate seat in 2000.
Here are some of the biggest Money Pit campaigns.
Michael R. Bloomberg 2020 Presidential Campaign
Donated personal assets: $1 billion
Dollars per vote: $426.76
It was by far the most expensive campaign failure in American history.
Michael Bloomberg, founder of financial and media giant Bloomberg LP and one of the biggest donors to the Democratic Party, has previously been criticized for spending eye-popping sums on his political ambitions. It also made headlines and history. He poured hundreds of millions of dollars of his personal fortune into running for mayor of New York City, and held the office from 2002 to 2013.
But the most expensive campaign of his career, and the most expensive presidential primary in U.S. history, was not just about the size of Mr. Bloomberg’s war chest, but also how badly the campaign ended. It also stood out in this respect. The former mayor withdrew from the race about 100 days after running for office.
Tom Steyer, 2020 Presidential Campaign
Donated personal assets: $341 million
Dollars per vote: $1,320.37
In any other campaign, in any other year, Tom Steyer’s 2020 presidential bid would have been a record-breaking failure. With $341 million of his hedge fund fortune invested, Steyer ultimately won 258,848 votes, the highest vote-to-money ratio of any U.S. presidential candidate, and won delegates. He withdrew from the race without doing anything.
Only Mr. Bloomberg, who has spent roughly three times as much and made more noise by entering the Democratic primary late, can reverse the gaping hole Mr. Steyer’s presidential ambitions have left in his wallet.
Linda E. McMahon, 2010 and 2012 Senate Campaigns
Personal property donated: $98.8 million total
Dollars per vote: $85.95
Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, spent nearly $100 million of her own money to fund two U.S. Senate campaigns in Connecticut. She used her vast financial resources to decisively claim the Republican nomination, but ultimately lost by wide margins in both the 2010 and 2012 elections. At the time, it was the largest amount of personal funds ever spent on a candidate for federal office.
Mr. McMahon went on to donate heavily to Donald J. Trump’s 2016 campaign and later joined Mr. Trump’s cabinet as head of the Small Business Administration. Chris Lacivita, who was a senior consultant to Trump’s 2012 campaign, is now one of Trump’s top executives for his 2024 presidential campaign.
Steve Forbes, 1996 and 2000 Presidential Campaigns
Donated personal wealth: $74 million total
Steve Forbes, then chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, ran two presidential campaigns as a Republican, spending about $37 million of his personal fortune each time to win the nomination, totaling $72 million. dollar, or $139 million. When adjusted for inflation.
This wealthy publisher operated on a platform of abolishing tax brackets and establishing a simple flat tax rate. This idea was later embraced by other Republican presidential candidates. Mr. Forbes won several state primaries in 1996 and finished second in the 2000 Iowa caucuses against George W. But it didn’t come close.
Ross Perot 1992 presidential campaign
Donated personal wealth: $65 million
