The A-list donors

Where fame meets fundraising … One last rigging before you go … And a new shirt can make you feel like a million bucks.

What do the creator of Jurassic Park, the star of Sex and the City, Matt Damon’s best friend, and the guy who played Derek Zoolander have in common?

They’re all trying to influence Arizona politics. 

Of all the political action committees pouring money into Arizona’s elections, one mega PAC has over $13 million ready to be let loose to flip Arizona’s Legislature blue in November. 

The PAC for America's Future - AZ has the highest cash balance of any political action committee this election cycle. It has more in the bank than even Arizona for Abortion Access, the PAC raising money for a ballot measure putting the right to abortion in the state Constitution, according to the Arizona Secretary of State’s campaign finance website. 

But while Arizona for Abortion Access’s headquarters is in Phoenix, the PAC for America's Future - AZ lists its mailing address in Brooklyn, NY. And you probably know many of their donors names from Hollywood.

Our art intern, ChatGPT, imagines Steven Spielberg hands out campaign funds through his megaphone. 

The federal arm of the PAC for America's Future supports “majority-making candidates to run evidence-based, effective campaigns and win state legislative majorities,” per its website. According to its donation page, the PAC “powers the electoral work of The States Project.” 

The States Project is a coordinated effort to bring attention to the state legislatures in battleground states like Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada and Pennsylvania. In Arizona, the States Project wants to flip two seats in the House and Senate each to give Arizona a Democratic trifecta of governance next to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. 

The PAC for America’s Future is a hybrid PAC, which means there’s no cap on the amount of contributions it can receive from donors. Potential patrons visiting its donor page are told the first $5,000 they contribute will go to the PAC’s federal arm, and once they exceed that amount, the money will go to nonfederal accounts dispersing statewide campaign contributions. 

In Arizona, that money has come from a wide array of famous folks. Donations this election cycle include: 

• $100,000 from Steven Spielberg, the renowned filmmaker of classics like “Schindler’s List” and “Jaws.” He also gave Stephen Richer’s failed reelection campaign for Maricopa County Recorder $6,650 this year.¹  Spielberg and his wife also donated $1,000 each to Pima County Recorder Gabriella Cázares-Kelly recently. 

• $100,000 from Kate Capshaw, an actress who starred in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” and who is Spielberg’s wife. She also gave $50,000 to Arizona for Abortion Access.²

• $100,000 from Sarah Jessica Parker, the “Sex and the City” star. 

• $25,000 from actor Ben Affleck. Yes, that Ben Affleck. 

• $20,000 from famed talk show host Andy Cohen. 

• $2,000 from Ben Stiller, star of hits like “Night at the Museum” and “Zoolander.” 

And while those are some of the most notable names, the big money is coming from slightly more obscure power brokers. 

• $2.2 million from Barry and Wendy Munger, children of former Berkshire Hathaway executive Charlie Munger. 

• $2 million from Jonathan Soros, a chief executive of a private investment firm and son of George Soros. 

• $500,000 from John Pritzker, the billionaire son of the founders of the Hyatt Hotel. 

• $200,000 from David Karp, the founder and former CEO of Tumblr, a blogging platform. 

All that money got us thinking…. Besides this PAC, what other big names are coughing up money to fund politicians and political causes in Arizona? 

• Several of the Waltons, heirs to the Walmart empire, have donated generously to PACs and politicians this election cycle. Rob Walton gave $600,000 to the Make Elections Fair PAC. He gave five separate disbursements of $25,000 to the Judicial Independence Defense, the House Victory Fund, Arizonans Protecting Freedom, Arizona Senate Victory Fund and Arizona PACs. Walton also gave $5,400 to Sen. Shawnna Bolick’s reelection campaign. 

• Lukas Walton, grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, gave $78,000 to Climate Cabinet PAC, which focuses on environmental policy. Lukas and James Walton, the youngest son of Walmart’s founder, also gave $2,500 each to Rep. Judy Schwiebert’s Senate campaign. 

• Rob and Lukas gave $3,000 and $2,500 to Rep. Leo Biasiucci’s reelection campaign. 

• Shonda Rhimes, a television producer and screenwriter, gave $100,000 to the DLCC Victory Fund in 2022. 

• Phoebe Gates, daughter of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, gave $750,000 to Arizona for Abortion Access. 

• Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, gave a pro-Abe Hamadeh PAC $5,000. In 2022, he gave Tom Horne’s campaign for Superintendent of Public Instruction $5,000 and Kari Lake’s gubernatorial campaign $5,300.

It’s not just Richer: GOP candidates who defended elections from conspiracy theories are losing primaries across Arizona to the people who push those theories, Votebeat Arizona’s Jen Fifield reports. The highest-profile example was Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, but candidates in Mohave and Pinal counties, and the state Legislature, also lost primaries to election skeptics. On the other hand, two GOP candidates in Maricopa County who defended elections, Supervisor Tom Galvin and County Attorney Rachel Mitchell are winning their races. Finally, Republic columnist EJ Montini used his column to urge Richer to endorse Democratic Maricopa County Recorder candidate Tim Stringham (rather than to urge Richer to rig the election in Stringham’s favor, as we assumed from reading the subheadline).

Wadsack is out: Former lawmaker Vince Leach is on his way to getting his state Senate seat back. Leach defeated state Sen. Justine Wadsack in the Republican primary in Legislative District 17, the Tucson Sentinel’s Dylan Smith reports. The vote tally on Wednesday afternoon put Leach 1,043 votes ahead of Wadsack. Leach will face Democrat John McLean, who ran unopposed in the primary. 

Making history: Jonathan Nez is now the first Indigenous candidate in Arizona to be the nominee of a major party for a congressional seat, Donovan Quintero reports for the Navajo Times. Nez won the Democratic primary in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District this week by focusing on healthcare access, economic development, and environmental conservation.

Delays incoming: The results from Tuesday’s primary elections were delayed slightly by a new state law, but that delay could be far worse in the general election, Axios Phoenix’s Jeremy Duda reports. The law requires election workers to count the number of early ballot drop-offs before the ballots can be transported to central election centers. That caused a 30-45 minute delay this week when 85,000 early ballots were dropped off. Officials expect as many as 300,000 ballots to be dropped off on Nov. 5.

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Gabby Giffords’ husband: While Sen. Mark Kelly becomes a household name during the final days of “veepstakes,” his wife Gabby Giffords is also playing a larger role on the national stage than she has in the 13 years since she was shot in Tucson, the Republic’s Ronald J. Hansen reports. She’s become a powerful voice not only on gun control, but also IVF. Hansen notes she and Kelly had an appointment set up, but the shooting ended their chance at having children together. 

Expensive field trip: A Tohono O’odham Nation school district spent a half-million dollars on “unnecessary and potentially wasteful” employee travel, the Arizona Auditor General says. That included a trip for 135 employees to a two-day conference in Georgia that cost $342,000. Baboquivari Unified School District Superintendent Ruben Diaz pledged to adopt new regulations based on the auditor general’s recommendations, the Center Square’s Cameron Arcand reports. 

Where wolves roam: The debate over whether Mexican grey wolves should be allowed north of Interstate 40 was reignited when a wolf was found near Flagstaff last month, the Payson Roundup’s Peter Aleshire reports. Federal officials don’t want to change the boundaries, but wildlife advocates say that allowing wolves north of I-40 would help the population grow and make them less vulnerable to big, bad droughts and wildfires.

The tradition lives on. When vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance went to Cochise County yesterday to talk about border policies, he switched out his usual suit and tie for a cowboy-style shirt. 

He didn’t wear a cowboy hat, though. Speculation is swirling that after Elon Musk was photographed accidentally wearing his cowboy hat backwards on a border visit, the rule of thumb now is just to skip it. 

Otherwise, you might look weird. 

Speaking of weird and Vance’s visit, liberal organization Progress Now paid for a billboard welcoming him to town. 

1. Spielberg also gave $50,000 to the DLCC Victory Fund in 2022.

2. Capshaw made some hefty donations in the 2022 election cycle, like $50,000 to the DemocracyFirst PAC, $50,000 to the Arizona Democratic Party, and $5,300 to Katie Hobbs’ campaign.

3. Well, except this Wednesday’s edition. We were very tired and forgot to schedule the email, so it was an hour late. Sorry!