California donors have funded both sides of Democrats’ primary battles
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- Californians have given more to far-left candidates and their moderate opponents than donors from any other state.
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Californians → fund → state
California donors helped fund the Senate primary victories of progressives Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota.
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donors → help → Minnesota
California is sometimes described as the ATM of Democratic politics.
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California → describe → politics
Donors from California have given more to far-left candidates and their moderate opponents in congressional races and U.S. Senate contests than donors from any other state — more than $17 million combined, according to a Times analysis of the most recently available campaign finance filings.
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Donors → give → filings
More of that money — nearly $11 million — went to more progressive candidates.
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More → go → candidates
That giving came from more than 95,000 individual donors, which was more than double the number of California donors who gave to their more moderate opponents.
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who → come → opponents
That includes 18,000 donors who gave to both progressive and moderate candidates.
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who → include → candidates
The largest share of cash to progressive candidates came from donors in the Bay Area, while the largest share of financial backing to moderate candidates came from donors in the Los Angeles area.
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share → come → area
The Times looked at competitive races outside California in which one of the candidates had been endorsed by either the Justice Democrats or the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, as well as key Senate races in Michigan, Minnesota, Florida and Maine that featured a stark ideological divide between top Democratic contenders.
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that → look → contenders
Although these races represent a small fraction of the electoral contests across the country, they were the races in which the future ideological direction of the Democratic Party was most fiercely contested.
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direction → represent → Party
Maine Democrats are calling for Republican Sen. Susan Collins to account for a report that alleged she was the target of a federal investigation over campaign contributions
Progressive candidates fared better in the majority of these contests.
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candidates → call → contests
California donors helped fund the Senate primary victories of progressives Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota — second only to in-state donors in providing cash to each of those candidates.
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donors → fund → candidates
Progressive House candidates such as Melat Kiros in Colorado and Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York were able to defeat more moderate incumbents with heavy support from California donors.
Their efforts weren’t always successful, however.
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efforts → defeat → donors
Former Rep. Cori Bush raked in more cash from California donors than in-state supporters in her bid to unseat incumbent Rep. Wesley Bell in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, the seat she had held previously.
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she → rake → District
But Bell easily cruised to victory in this year’s primary.
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Bell → cruise → primary
California donors gave nearly $2.5 million to his Senate campaign in Maine before he withdrew after he was accused of sexual assault by a former girlfriend.
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he → give → girlfriend
He has denied the accusation.
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He → deny → accusation
The Times analysis looked at direct contributions to campaigns, which are capped at $7,000 per election cycle.
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which → look → cycle
It did not include contributions to party committees or independent committees that could also be spending in these races.
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that → include → races
The analysis included both bigger contributions required to be disclosed by campaigns as well as small-dollar contributions through the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue.
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analysis → include → platform
Flipping the script
Progressive donors said they were motivated to give to candidates who would shake up the Democratic Party’s status quo.
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who → flip → quo
“The Democratic Party has to understand that they can’t keep doing the same thing,” said Rehan Alvi, a real estate investor in El Dorado Hills.
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Alvi → have → Hills
He gave the maximum allowable to support the campaigns of El-Sayed and Bush, and also supported Junaid Ahmed’s failed primary bid in the Illinois 8th Congressional District, as well as Platner’s campaign.
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He → give → District
Harry Saddler, a retired designer who lives in San Francisco, said that the state of the party is “enraging.”
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state → live → party
“That leads me to think about people who can actually flip the script,” he said.
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he → lead → script
Saddler has written checks to a number of more progressive candidates, including Flanagan, Chevalier, Ahmed and Nida Allam, who lost her primary bid to unseat incumbent Rep. Valerie Foushee in North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District, though he has also supported some moderate candidates in other races he sees as crucial to Democrats chances at retaking control of one or both chambers of Congress.
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he → write → Congress
That pragmatic approach is part of the reason Joshua Saltman said he has supported a number of moderate candidates.
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he → say → candidates
“The reality of the map is that if Democrats are going to retake the House, it’s not just winning super blue districts,” said Saltman, a former entertainment industry lawyer who now runs a Broadway music festival.
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who → go → festival
The dispute stands to heighten voters’ economic worries and add to the GOP’s political challenge in dead-heat races, analysts say.
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analysts → stand → races
Saltman said that he considers himself to be a more moderate Democrat and is also inclined to give to moderate candidates who he believes “get a little less love” from other donors, particularly in California.
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he → say → California
He has written checks to Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost to El-Sayed in Michigan; Rep. Angie Craig, who lost to Flanagan in Minnesota; Bell in Missouri and Gov. Janet Mills in Maine, who was Platner’s main competition in the Democratic primary before dropping out of the race.
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who → write → race
Alan Burye, a retired accountant who lives just outside San Diego, said he prefers more moderate candidates because he thinks they are more productive politicians.
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they → live → candidates
“The ones who are out on the edges, like Bernie Sanders, really don’t get much done,” Burye said.
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Burye → get → Sanders
He cut checks to Craig in Minnesota and Stevens in Michigan.
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He → cut → Michigan
Progressive candidates have been increasingly critical of the actions and influence of the Israeli government as the public, broadly, has adopted a more negative view of the Israeli government.
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public → adopt → government
Politicians who have drawn support in the past from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, have been a particular target of progressive challengers.
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who → draw → challengers
“The problem with the Democratic Party is that they’re all just beholden to AIPAC and to corporate interests,” said Alvi, the real estate investor in El Dorado Hills.
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Alvi → ’re → Hills
“I want a candidate who has the courage to speak.”
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who → want → courage
In Michigan, El-Sayed described AIPAC’s support of Stevens, his moderate opponent, as “legalized bribery.”
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Sayed → describe → bribery
El-Sayed has made no secret of his criticism of American foreign aid for Israel and said that he “doesn’t believe in ethno-states” in response to a question in the summer about whether he supports the right of Israel to exist.
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he → make → Israel
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
