Billionaire George Soros gives $1.5 m to pro-Obama Super PACS
George Soros, founder and chairman of the Open Society Institute and a billionaire investor, attends a forum addressing the global response to the flood in Pakistan at the Asia Society August 19, 2010 in New York City.
Billionaire George Soros has pledged $1.5 million in donations to Democratic super PACS, indicating that liberal leaning donors might be warming up to the idea of the PACS, reports Politico.
Super PACs are allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money but they are barred from coordinating with campaigns.
Soro is donating $1 million to Priorities USA Action and $500,000 each to a pair of other PACs supporting congressional races.
The Liberal donors have been much more reticent to donate to super PACS then their conservative counterparts.
The New York Times reports that the four top Democratic groups had together raised less money through the beginning of September than the pro- Mitt Romney PAC, Restore Our Future.
“Donors are no longer sitting on the sidelines,” said Susan McCue, a spokeswoman for Majority PAC, which supports Senate Democrats, told the Times.
“They see how high the stakes are on key issues and with the Supreme Court.”
Soros previously donated $2 million to two other Democratic groups but his donations this election cycle pale in comparison to top conservative donor Sheldon Adelson.
The casino magnate pledged to spend up to $100 million to help Mitt Romney an other Republican congressional campaigns, according to the Times.
Soros became well known in 2004 when he spent more than $20 million on independent groups supporting Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), reports the Washington Post.