The hundred biggest individual donors gave $150 million to state and federal campaigns in 2003-2004, according to a Register analysis.
Posted on 07/24/2005 9:36:43 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
In the fall of 2001, Orange County technology executive Paul Folino and his wife attended a dinner at the home of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
That dinner helped transform Schwarzenegger from political groupie to governor.
It also catapulted Folino, chairman and chief executive of Emulex, into the ranks of California's 100 biggest political donors.
An Orange County Register analysis found that the top 100 donors gave more than $150 million to candidates and political committees in 2003 and 2004. Their money, targeted at a handful of races, shaped the state's political agenda – and to a large degree the nation's.
They put California into the stem-cell business. Some 26 wealthy couples and individuals contributed more than half the campaign money for Proposition 73, the state's $3 billion bet on the biotechnology frontier. Most are venture capitalists who could make millions if state-backed research spins off new businesses.
They changed public policy. The Legislature passed bills guarding financial privacy and restricting workers' compensation claims to head off initiatives bankrolled by a few big donors.
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The Register identified about 700 California residents who gave more than $50,000 to a state or federal campaign, and then ranked the top 100, who gave more than about $280,000 each. The top 37 individuals and couples all gave at least $1 million. The analysis excluded donations from unions and public companies. A few household names pepper the list, including Schwarzenegger – who gave his own campaign enough money to grab third place on the list – plus stockbroker Charles Schwab and "Seinfeld" co-creator Larry David.
--snip--
But most of the top donors are people you might not have heard of. Almost all are white. Most are well past 50, though a handful of young tech superstars made the list.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
The hundred biggest individual donors gave $150 million to state and federal campaigns in 2003-2004, according to a Register analysis.
Where's the bust of Lenin?
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