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Q3 Campaign donation filings are being reported now. The biggest news is that three billionaires gave Donald Trump a total of $220 million combined in July, August, and September. Miriam Adelson, widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, gave $95 million. The world's richest man, Elon Musk, gave $75 million. Schlitz beer heir and owner of the U-line packaging supplies company Richard Uihlein gave $50 million. Trump is clearly much beloved by billionaires.
Each of them probably has a different motivation, although when you are a multibillionaire, giving a campaign $50-100 million is small potatoes. Adelson, who was born in Israel, really has only one issue: Israel. She wants a president she trusts to support Israel, no matter how many college students demonstrate in favor of the Palestinians. She likes Trump's Middle East policy: What Bibi wants, Bibi gets. Musk wants to be important and maybe get a position in the Trump administration where he can change the county to be more billionaire friendly, possibly be eliminating or sabotaging anti-poverty and other programs that are of no use to billionaires. He would love to put the kibosh on a few ongoing federal investigations, as well. Uihlein usually keeps a low profile and never does interviews—the exact opposite of Musk—but he has been a Republican megadonor for decades. He probably doesn't want any personal favors from Trump, just low taxes for billionaires.
The Adelsons and Uihleins have been donating to Republicans since forever, but Musk is new to the game. Despite that, he has inserted himself into the campaign in a big way, talking to Trump multiple times a week. With Musk, separating his personal interests from his business interests is increasingly difficult. It could cost him. Last week the California Coastal Commission rejected SpaceX's plans to launch more rockets from Vandenberg Air Force Base, citing his political antics as a reason. He is also butting heads with the FAA over launch requirements. So far, his tweets and behavior have not affected SpaceX getting government contracts, but if Kamala Harris becomes commander in chief, she could decide that having a healthy Boeing Corporation is in the national interest and use her power to send military and space contracts in that direction. That it would hurt Musk would just be the cherry on the sundae.
Wall Street isn't impressed by Musk's politicking. When Musk showed off his "cybercab" last week, the value of Tesla dropped by $68 billion. That's more than the total value of General Motors ($54 billion) or Ford ($43 billion). Musk personally became $12 billion poorer last Friday. Spending more time in Pennsylvania campaigning for Trump and less time making sure he can deliver on Tesla's promises probably isn't going to make investors get the feeling that Musk is on top of the company's problems and fixing them.
The $200 million in donations to Trump from three donors doesn't mean Trump can now dominate the airwaves and ground game. Harris raised $1 billion since July 21, so she can meet the challenge easily. Of that haul, $633 came from high-dollar donors and the rest from small donors. Harris has used the $220 million donation from the three billionaires to encourage small donors to give her more. Also, the megadonors are giving to Trump-affiliated PACs, which get far less favorable ad rates.
Super PACs supporting Senate candidates also raised a lot of money in Q3. The super PAC aligned with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Majority PAC, took in $119 million. Most Democratic Senate candidates are outraising their Republican opponents, including Sens. Ruben Gallego (AZ), Angela Alsobrooks (MD), Elissa Slotkin (MI), Jon Tester (MT), Jacky Rosen (NV), and Sherrod Brown (OH). Bob Casey (PA) is tied with Connecticut resident David McCormick. Tammy Baldwin (WI) is slightly behind Eric Hovde. Colin Allred (TX) is way, way, behind Ted Cruz; $3 million vs. $14 million.
The Republican equivalent, Senate Leadership Fund, raised $116 million, so it was roughly a tie. The main Democratic House super PAC received $101 million in Q3 vs. the main Republican House super PAC, which got $81 million. (V)