Here’s where all the presidential candidates get their campaign money

There will probably be more money flowing into the 2016 presidential race than in any election in U.S. history. The most important new trend is the hundreds of millions flowing into “super PACs” and other outside spending groups, which can accept unlimited amounts from rich donors and spend it on ads and other efforts to support favored candidates or help defeat their opponents.



The gusher of political money flowing from “economic elites” may even endanger democracy itself, according to a recent study by two leading academics, since it concentrates political influence among a small number of billionaires while disenfranchising typical voters.





With crony capitalism and income inequality likely to be prominent issues in the election, Yahoo Finance will track the big donors funding each candidate, and why they might be doing that. Below is our list of who’s donating to each candidate so far, with the candidates grouped by party and listed according to their fundraising prospects. (Click on each name for a more complete funding profile):

DEMOCRATS

Hillary Clinton. Fundraising tier, out of 3 levels: Highest

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Prominent donors: Most of the usual big Democratic givers, including Tom Steyer, Fred Eychaner, James Simons, George Soros, Marc Lasry, Reid Hoffman, Jeffrey Katzenberg and John Doerr.

Advantages: A vast network of rich contacts from her years as a senator and Secretary of State, and of course her husband Bill’s years as president.

Vulnerabilities: Clinton may seem such a shoe-in that donors grow complacent and hold back, leaving her at a funding disadvantage against Jeb Bush or whoever the Republican nominee turns out to be.

Martin O’Malley. Fundraising tier: Lowest

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Prominent donor: Retired trial attorney John Coale, who, ironically, is married to Fox News host Greta van Susteren.

Advantages: As a more liberal alternative to Clinton, O’Malley could get some union donations and other funds from the party’s leftward wing.

Vulnerabiliites: Who would fund such an underdog?

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