Michael Bloomberg pours millions into abortion fight Share This:

Michael Bloomberg has given over $11 million to super PACs this cycle. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

WOMEN VOTE!, the super PAC arm of the pro-choice group Emily’s List, just had its biggest fundraising haul of the 2014 cycle, thanks largely to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg, a super PAC founder and mega-donor, gave the group $2 million in July, documents just filed with the FEC show. While Bloomberg has given to the super PAC in the past, in recent years he’s devoted the bulk of his political largesse toward advocating for tougher gun control laws, gay marriage and education reform.

The media mogul has also supported conservatives in certain races. In May he gave $250,000 to Mississippi Conservatives, the super PAC that supported Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., in his nail-biter — and ultimately successful — bid to win his party’s nomination for an seventh term. The seven-figure donation puts Bloomberg at over $11 million in total giving to super PACs this cycle.

Thanks to the hefty sum from the former mayor, along with a $245,000 donation from the national Plumbers and Pipefitters union and $200,000 from Berkley professor Scott Shenker, the PAC pulled in just over $2.5 million in July. That’s more than four times the $547,130 they raised in June.

So far, the group has invested in 15 different federal races, supporting pro-choice female candidates. The U.S. Senate race in North Carolina is the super PAC’s major focus in 2014. There, incumbent Sen. Kay Hagan, D, is trying to weather a conservative challenge from Republican state House Speaker Thom Tillis. WOMEN VOTE! has attacked Tillis’ record in TV ads, claiming he cut almost $500 million from the state education budget as House speaker.

A request for comment about the Bloomberg donation to Women Vote! was not immediately returned, this post will be updated if and when we receive a reply.