Wall Street firms, not Kentuckians, are leading Mitch McConnell's campaign donations

FRANKFORT — Boosted by big bundles of Wall Street contributions, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's reelection committee took in more than $3 million during the recent quarter that ended June 30.

The biggest blocks of contributions during the period came from two global financial services firms based in New York: 29 people with Blackstone Group made contributions totaling $95,400; and 14 executives of KKR & Co. are listed as giving a combined $51,000.

The report, filed late Monday with the Federal Election Commission, illustrates McConnell's continuing ability to draw big contributions from business interests across the country.

Only about 9% of the itemized contributions listed in his recent report come from Kentucky donors, according to an analysis by the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. That analysis said McConnell got more money during the quarter from New York and Texas.

The Kentucky Democratic Party belittled the report, noting that McConnell's $3 million in total receipts includes more than $600,000 in transfers from other McConnell-related political committees, and only about $2.4 million in contributions during the period.

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They contrasted this with the announcement last week by Democrat Amy McGrath that she had raised $2.5 million within 24 hours of her announcement that she would run against McConnell in 2020.

"This is not a good sign for McConnell in 2020," the Democratic Party statement said.

McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden shot back with a statement that said, in part: "Any liberal name in the phone book will raise millions from Hollywood radicals who can't stand that Mitch McConnell is the only leader in Washington who isn't from New York or California."

McGrath is a former Marine fighter pilot who lost in a race for Kentucky's 6th District congressional seat last year. While her campaign said it raised $2.5 million during its first day last week, it does not have to file its first campaign finance report until October.

And campaign finance experts said Tuesday that McConnell's report represents a solid fundraising quarter for the incumbent senator.

"It's a good quarter. For a senator these days, a good quarter is $2 million or higher," said Kyle Kondik, who analyzes elections at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. "The bottom line is simply that Sen. McConnell’s going to have all the money he needs to run a very aggressive reelection campaign.”

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Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based group that tracks campaign finance on the federal level, said, "Sen. McConnell's on track for a very successful funding operation this cycle, which is usual for him."

Besides its $3 million in receipts for the quarter, McConnell's committee reported spending nearly $759,000, and as of June 30 had almost $7.9 million on hand.

Blackstone and KKR were not the only New York investment firms to help McConnell during the period. The Courier Journal's review of the McConnell report shows that executives of Apollo Global Management and their spouses gave a combined $36,400 to McConnell during the period, and executives of Golden Tree Asset Management together donated $28,700.

Scores of donors gave the maximum $5,600 contribution to the McConnell reelection committee during the period. They include:

• Garry McNabb, the payday lender from Cookeville, Tennessee
• Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of the Las Vegas Sands
• Miriam Adelson, a physician and Sheldon Adelson’s wife 
• Peter Coors, the Coors Brewing executive from Golden, Colorado
•  James Davis, chairman of New Balance, from Brighton, Massachusetts
• Jennifer Baker, a National Rifle Association public affairs official from Nashville, Tennessee
• Michael Houlihan, Louisville, CEO of Evergreen Rehab
• Robert Wood Northup, Louisville, husband of former U.S. Rep. Anne Northup

Political observers believe the 2020 U.S. Senate election in Kentucky will be hugely expensive, with super PACs and other outside groups on each side pouring in as much — or more — money as raised by the two campaigns.

But exactly how much flows into Kentucky will depend largely on whether McGrath or some other Democrat is perceived during the general election to have a chance at knocking out McConnell, who was first elected to the Senate in 1984.

“To Democrats across the country, McConnell may not be ‘Public Enemy No. 1,’ but he’s probably Public Enemy No. 2.’ Whether lots of Democratic money continues to flow into Kentucky will depend on how competitive the Democratic outside groups perceive it to be,” Kondik said.

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Krumholz and Kondik both said McConnell is sure to win the backing of well-heeled super PACs and other outside groups, including the Senate Leadership Fund, a major super PAC run by former McConnell aides that runs big advertising campaigns to elect Republicans to the U.S. Senate.

Krumholz and Kondik said McConnell's recent report — and years of prior reports — shows he draws big contributions from across the country from the political action committees and executives of big corporations, as well as from traditional Republican donors.

They said he draws lots of contributions from across the country because he’s a national figure, who just happens to represent a relatively small state.

“He has a lot of capacity to raise campaign dollars," Krumholz said. "He will have the resources to compete."

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at 502-875-5136 or tloftus@courier-journal.com. Twitter: @TomLoftus_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/toml.