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527 GROUPS ATTRACT BIG INDIVIDUAL DONORS: Individuals — many of them wealthy CEOs and executives from some of the nation’s more moneyed businesses — contributed more than $20.5 million to 527 political action groups in the second quarter of 2010, according to a Center for Responsive Politics analysis. The big winner seems to be American Crossroads, the new conservative organization founded by Republican political strategist and former advisor to President George W. Bush, Karl Rove. The new group collected $2.3 million from the two biggest donors in the second quarter: Wayne Hughes, founder of storage giant Public Storage, and Trevor Rees-Jones, the founder and CEO of Chief Oil and Gas. The Republican Governors Association also brought in $1.3 million from two business-minded individuals: David Koch, a co-owner of oil giant Koch Industries ($1,000,000) and Paul Singer of the hedge fund firm Elliot Management ($500,000).

Left-leaning groups also got some help from generous individual donors. Lynde Uihlein of the philanthropy group the Brico Fund donated $582,000 to several groups, the bulk of it going to Wisconsin political funds and the League of Conservation Voters; and Steve Mostyn, founder of the Mostyn Law Firm, gave $400,000 to the Democratic Governors Association.

Here’s a list of the top ten individuals donating to 527 groups in the second quarter:

#1 Wayne Hughes, founder of Public Storage: $1,300,000 to American Crossroads

#2 Trevor Rees-Jones, founder and CEO of Chief Oil and Gas: $1,000,000 to American Crossroads

#3 David Koch, executive at Koch Industries: $1,000,000 to the Republican Governors Association

#4 Lynde Uihlein, founder of the Brico Fund: $582,000 mainly to Wisconsin political funds and the League of Conservation Voters

#5 David Teece, chairman of the recently formed Californians for a Balanced Budget and a Better Economy: $540,000 to Californians for a Balanced Budget and a Better Economy

#6 Pitch Johnson, founder of Asset Management Company: $500,827 to Californians for a Balanced Budget and a Better Economy (IRS link here)



#7 Sheldon Adelson, CEO of the Las Vegas Sands: $500,000 to American Solutions Winning the Future

#8 Paul Singer, founder and CEO of Elliot Management Corporation: $500,000 to the Republican Governors Association

#9 Steve Mostyn, founder of the Mostyn Law Firm: $400,000 to the Democratic Governors Association

#10 Peter Ackerman, former Wall Street investor and now in the leadership of the recent 527 group Americans Elect (formerly Unity08): $400,000 to Americans Elect

RESORT COMPANY DONATES BIG-TIME DESPITE 2ND QUARTER LOSS: Despite reporting a second quarter loss of $517,000, MTR Gaming Group Inc. still managed to contribute $225,000 to governors associations during the same period, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. MTR, a casino and resort company based in Chester, West Virginia owns and operates through its subsidiaries Mountaineer Casino and Resort, and Presque Isle Downs and Casino among other entities. MTR donated $50,000 to the Democratic Governors Association on April 12th, $125,000 to the Republican Governors Association on April 28th, followed by another $50,000 to the Democratic Governors Association on June 29th. As a comparison, the governors association contributions make up 43 percent of their losses for the quarter.

THE CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS IN THE NEWS: The Center’s report on second quarter Wall Street political donations favoring Republicans attracted significant attention from many media outlets this week, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and CNBC. Andy Kroll at Mother Jones used the Center’s data to show the percentage of donations from people giving $200 or less to Colorado Senate Democratic primary winner Michael Bennet and opponent Andrew Romanoff. Kathy Kiely from USA Today highlighted the Center when reporting the fact that Linda McMahon has put more than $22 million in to her campaign for the US Senate.

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