Billionaire Republican Donors Are Now Giving To Manchin And Sinema

As Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) stood in the way of President Joe Biden’s agenda last year, they attracted the support of a small–but very rich–cohort: billionaires who gave money to Donald Trump’s previous campaigns. 

In 2021, Manchin and Sinema received campaign contributions from at least 13 billionaires who previously donated to Trump, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission records. Among the donors: Continental Resources chairman Harold Hamm, investor Ken Langone, and Apollo private equity CEO Marc Rowan. At least 10 gave to Manchin, while at least six gave to Sinema. Some of the billionaires gave to both. Such support is new: Between 2017 and 2020, only three billionaires gave to both Trump and Manchin. One gave to Trump and Sinema.

“This is something that we see when particular members become more prominent,” says Robert Maguire, a campaign finance expert who serves as research director at Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “Funding becomes more nationalized. We start to see that people who want access and influence to powerful members start giving to them.” Long-time Republican donors, he added, “are going to want to support any Democrat who is going to stymie Joe Biden’s agenda.”   

The maximum amount of money that Manchin and Sinema’s campaigns can legally receive from any one individual is relatively small—during this election cycle, the limit on contributions is $5,800. These sorts of contributions nonetheless seem to provide access to powerful lawmakers. Billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz donated to Manchin’s campaign in 2017 and hosted a fundraiser for Trump in 2020. The investor explained his relationship with Manchin on CNBC in October, saying he has known the senator for a decade and calls him “every week.” 

Sinema appears to have been actively soliciting donations from at least one Trump billionaire donor. On Tuesday, the Guardian reported that the Arizona senator attended a Houston fundraiser in January with oil-and-gas executives, including Oklahoma fracker Harold Hamm. 

Minnesota broadcasting billionaire Stanley Hubbard, who gave to Trump in 2020, said that he donated to Sinema last year because a friend asked him to, and he said he thinks she’s “a good person.” Asked about his opinion on her opposition to filibuster reform, Hubbard made clear it was a personal priority of his as well: “She is absolutely right,” he said. “The filibuster is really important, and I think getting rid of the filibuster—we have mob rule.” 

In addition, Manchin and Sinema have also received new donations from billionaires who did not donate to Trump’s campaigns but have previously donated to major Republican political committees, like the Senate Leadership Fund, a super-PAC focused on gaining a GOP majority in the Senate. Billionaire Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, for example, donated $250,000 to that GOP super-PAC from 2016 to 2020. In the last year, he donated to Manchin and Sinema for the first time.   

It’s not unheard of for a Democrat to receive money from a billionaire who has made large contributions to Republican causes. In 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer got a contribution from New York real estate billionaire Richard LeFrak, who also gave to Joe Manchin’s campaign in 2021 and donated to Trump’s campaign in the past. Billionaire investor Thomas Tull gave $750,000 to the Senate Leadership Fund, and $711,300 to Joe Biden’s joint-fundraising committee on the same day in September 2020.

Both Manchin and Sinema last campaigned for their Senate seats in 2018 and are not up for reelection until 2024.The recent burst of support from three-comma-club members stands out compared to previous non-election years. In 2019, Manchin accepted money from just one billionaire, while Sinema collected donations from three. The next year, Manchin got support from five tycoons, and Sinema from four. In 2021, however, Manchin received contributions from 25 billionaires, and Sinema got money from 21.