Earlier this year I told you about billionaire vulture capitalist Paul Singer. Vulture capitalist Paul Singer, Martha McSally and same-sex marriage, oh my!:
Paul Singer is a complex guy. He also supports pro-gay marriage Republicans, funds pro-immigration reform groups, and recently started his own club of donors, a la the Koch brothers, to join him in his efforts. (That sound you heard is Cathi Herrod’s head exploding).
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Singer’s latest project is “Winning Women,” a fundraising committee devoted to electing more Republican women to Congress. Andy Kroll at Mother Jones investigates Singer’s latest project. The GOP’s “Fundraising Terrorist” Has a New Cause:
Winning Women was formed in February, records show. In the first quarter of 2014, the committee funneled more than $320,000 to three candidates: Barbara Comstock, a former GOP consultant and opposition researcher vying to replace retiring Rep. Frank Wolf in Virginia’s 10th congressional district; Elise Stefanik, a former Bush administration aide running to represent New York’s 21st; and Martha McSally, a retired Air Force colonel in Arizona’s second district trying for the second time to unseat Democrat Rep. Ron Barber.
For each of three candidates, Winning Women’s money provided a major cash infusion. In Stefanik’s case, the $110,917 she received from Winning Women made up 70 percent of the donations to her campaign from January to March. The $109,832 McSally pocketed in the same period made up 36 percent of her first-quarter fundraising. Comstock, who won her fiercely fought GOP primary this past weekend, overall raised the most, $660,809, of the three candidates. More than $100,000 of that haul came from the Singer-linked committee.
Winning Women raised $361,000 in the first quarter of 2014, and much of that money came from Singer, his family, and donors with ties to the Singers. Sixteen employees of Elliott Management and its London office, Elliott Advisers, contributed $104,250, including Singer and his son, Gordon. Thirteen attorneys at Kleinberg Kaplan Wolff Cohen, a law firm close to Singer and Elliott, chipped in $7,850. And other Singer-affiliated donors included employees of Singer’s family office and foundation, hedge fund investor Clifford Asness (a GOP ally of Singer’s in the marriage equality push), and consultant Phil Musser, a former executive director at the Republican Governors Association. (Singer did not respond to a request for comment.)
Singer’s role with Winning Women underscores the growing clout of wealthy donors in the post-Citizens United era. Another federal PAC tied to Singer, Friends for an American Majority, has raised $1.2 million and handed out six figures in donations to Senate candidates including GOPers Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Steve Daines of Montana. In February, Singer’s donor club, the American Opportunity Alliance, debuted with an Aspen retreat reportedly featuring House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.).
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Winning Women also bears the imprimatur of the Chicago-based Ricketts family, another powerful force in Republican money circles led by Joe Ricketts, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade. Sylvie Légère Ricketts, the wife of Chicago Cubs owner Todd Ricketts (Joe’s son), co-hosted the Winning Women fundraiser with Singer for Comstock, Stefanik, and McSally. Four members of the Ricketts family—Sylvie, Todd, Marlene, and Cecelia—also gave a combined $45,000 to the committee. (Interesting side note: Although much of the Ricketts family leans Republican, Laura, the daughter of patriarch Joe Ricketts, is a major fundraiser for Democrats and LGBT organizations.)
The Ricketts clan has plans for a donor alliance of its own. As Bloomberg reported last month, Joe Ricketts hopes to expand his political operation, Ending Spending, to include more activist donors like him. Already, Ricketts has recruited Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, the biggest donor in modern history, to give to Ending Spending. “It has become clear to me that policy is made by the people who show up,” Todd Ricketts, who is Laura’s sister, told Bloomberg. “We’re showing up.”
The money contributed by Elliott Management’s London branch to Winning Women could raise questions for McSally, Comstock, and Stefanik. Elliott Advisers, run by Paul Singer’s son, Gordon, stands accused of insider trading by a French financial regulator, which is considering whether to fine Elliott Advisers $55 million for market manipulation and trading on inside information regarding a French motorway company called APRR. (Elliott has denied any wrongdoing in the matter.)
None of the three candidates who received Winning Women’s help responded to requests for comment. [You’re shocked, I’m sure.]
I want to come back to the first point above, that Paul Singer supports pro-gay marriage Republicans. Singer is back in the news today in USA Today, GOP super PAC plans gay-rights push this fall:
A Republican group tied to hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer plans to spend at least $2 million up to Election Day to boost congressional candidates who share its views in favor of gay rights.
American Unity’s midterm push comes after a string of recent victories, including little-noticed state contests in Illinois, Nevada, Minnesota and Hawaii, where it helped Republican candidates — vulnerable over gay-marriage votes — survive primary challenges.
The group has drawn up plans to back seven congressional candidates ahead of November’s elections and could add more to the roster . . .
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Singer, the founder of Elliott Management and a leading force in Republican efforts to legalize gay marriage, is the largest donor to the American Unity super PAC at nearly $2 million, federal records show. Another billionaire, Boston investment manager Seth Klarman, has donated $ 1 million.
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American Unity’s strategy varies by contest. In Illinois and Minnesota this year, it helped launch state-focused super PACs to back like-minded Republicans in primaries. In other states, it has encouraged its network of donors to send campaign checks directly to at-risk candidates.
The effort has paid off.
The USA Today report does nor mention Singer’s support for Martha McSally through his other PAC, Winning Women. But Singer clearly has an agenda for how he intends to spend his millions in this election.
Last week I posted about Cathi Herrod and her Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) AZ Voter Guide for the 2014 Primary. Did Martha McSally not answer CAP’s candidate questionnaire?:
In reviewing CAP’s AZ Voter Guide for Martha McSally, I immediately noticed that her responses in the CAP AZ Voter Guide do not link to a Federal Survey completed by her in 2014. I understand that this is a bad thing to do among the Christian Right voters who subscribe to the CAP.
McSally did not respond to the CAP question regarding same-sex marriage:
3. Arizona’s voter-approved constitutional definition of marriage should be defended to the fullest extent legally possible.
No Response
McSally almost certainly gave a favorable response to Paul Singer, or he would not be supporting her campaign with his money.
How did McSally’s CD 2 GOP primary opponents respond to the CAP Federal Survey?
Here is the response of Chuck Wooten:
3. Arizona’s voter-approved constitutional definition of marriage should be defended to the fullest extent legally possible.
Supports
And here is the response of Shelley Kais:
3. Arizona’s voter-approved constitutional definition of marriage should be defended to the fullest extent legally possible.
Supports
In fact, every Republican candidate running for Congress in Arizona responded that they “support” the CAP position. See Federal Survey. McSally is the only Republican candidate for Congress who did not provide a response to CAP.
Is Martha McSally Paul Singer’s stealth pro-gay marriage Republican candidate running for Congress in Arizona? Being a pro-gay marriage Republican candidate would put her well outside the mainstream of GOP primary voters in Arizona, and at odds with every current member of Arizona’s GOP congressional delegation. How do Tea-Publican primary voters feel about this?
By the way, Ms. McSally, you do not get any credit for taking a brave stand on same-sex marriage in a GOP primary when you have not made your position known on same-sex marriage (being a stealth candidate is rather cowardly, actually). This is yet another question for Martha McSally that she has not answered for her constituents in CD 2.
Why are you so surprised that there are Republican who favor gay marriage? There are increasing numbers of us all the time. Gay rights are a civil rights issue.
I am not surprised. I am working with people from all political persuasions right now to remove state sanctioned discrimination from the Arizona Constitution. The point of the post is that if Martha McSally is also supportive of this position she has demonstrated cowardice by not publicly stating her position. You should take it up with her, and see if she will add her name to the list of supporters.