The $169 million from donors in the securities and investment industry is the most they’ve ever contributed in a midterm election, according to Center for Responsive Politics data. That makes them the most generous group for the first time in decades, with about two-thirds of the money going to Republicans in what the Washington-based nonprofit projects will be the country’s most expensive non-presidential election.
Financiers donating to Republicans and Democrats said their investments are driven by something grander than self-interest.
“If Wall Street is in fact the largest contributor to the midterms, it is precisely because of its true concern for the future of our country,” said Dan Lufkin, who co-founded investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and has donated to candidates from both parties. “Wall Street, in its many forms, has as its operative word ‘the future.’”
The industry’s biggest donor was Paul Singer’s hedge fund Elliott Management, with $12.1 million. Among top givers were employees from Ken Griffin’s Citadel LLC, Soros Fund Management LLC and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) Wall Street’s lead over retirees, lawyers and other groups grows wider when commercial banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) are added.
