Bill Maher Donates $1 Million to Help Democrats Win Senate

The HBO host made the contribution to the Senate Majority PAC, which is focused on winning Senate elections for Democrats.

Bill Maher wants the Democrats to take back control of the U.S. Senate. This week, the HBO host donated $1 million to Senate Majority PAC, a political action committee dedicated to supporting Democrats running for the Senate.

"We sincerely thank Bill Maher for his generous donation," Senate Majority PAC president J.B. Poersch said in a statement. "Maher's attention to our efforts this cycle underscores the building momentum and excitement for Democratic Senate candidates that we continue to see across the country. Every donation we receive is critical to help us ensure victory come Election Day."

Maher has waded deeply into electoral politics before. He donated $1 million to Priorities USA Action, a Democratic Party-supporting super PAC, back in February 2012.

The Senate Majority PAC has so far raised $78 million for the 2018 election cycle, according to an end-of-July report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The political action committee has raised millions from Hollywood A-listers, including Seth MacFarlane ($2 million in April), Univision chairman Haim Saban ($1 million in March), Netflix CEO Reed Hastings ($500,000 in March), Jeffrey Katzenberg ($250,000 in June), Michael Eisner ($150,000 in March) and Ari Emanuel ($100,000 in May).

The House Majority PAC, which was set up to support Democrats running for the House of Representatives, has raised big money from Katzenberg ($250,000 in June), Saban ($250,000 in June), Steven Spielberg ($100,000 in June), Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson ($10,000 in June), and ICM Partners founding partner Chris Silbermann ($2,000 in June).