Telecom, Media Executives Spent Generously on Midterm Elections

Frequent individual donations over the past two years often followed lines established in the more official spending from industry PACs. Companies and associations gave many thousands of dollars to candidates’ campaign war chests through those PACs, with executives and lobbyists giving directly to the funds (see 1410300035). Executives often reached into their personal fortunes, too, to give individual donations, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson unleashed substantial money in recent months, aside from the comparatively meager sums he gave AT&T’s PAC. He donated $32,400 to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) Sept. 15 and the same amount to the Republican National Committee July 31. Last year, he gave donations of $10,000 to such groups as NRCC and the Republican Party of Ohio as well as donations as high as $2,600 to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. He gave $5,000 to the conservative, Boehner-affiliated Freedom Project PAC Sept. 15 and previously on May 31. Stephenson’s personal donations have favored Thom Tillis, Republican challenger to Sen. Kay Hagan in North Carolina, incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, House Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas.

“Donations personally from a CEO probably do make more of a statement than from other company officials," Guggenheim Partners analyst Paul Gallant told us. "And meaningful donations certainly make sure you get every opportunity to make the case with a lawmaker. But it’s also the case that donors often support like-minded public officials. So it’s not always easy to separate what a donation actually produced versus what would have happened anyway."

Other AT&T executives donated heavily, often to GOP candidates. AT&T Senior Executive Vice President-External and Legislative Affairs Jim Cicconi, a Virginia resident, donated thousands to Ed Gillespie, the Republican consultant running against Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner. Cicconi also donated $5,000 to NRCC and gave money to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Sessions and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, the one Democratic recipient. Tim McKone, a head AT&T lobbyist and Virginia resident, also gave thousands of dollars to Gillespie this year in addition to $5,000 to the NRCC last year. AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega gave the same amount to the Republican Party last year in addition to more modest contributions to Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif. AT&T Senior Executive Vice President-Human Resources Bill Blasé, Global Marketing Officer Cathy Coughlin, Senior Executive Vice President-Technology and Operations John Donovan, Chief Strategy Officer John Stankey, Chief Financial Officer John Stephens and General Counsel Wayne Watts all gave separate donations of $5,000 to the Republican party last year.

Top brass at Verizon showed a similar leaning in their highest individual donations. Verizon Wireless CEO Dan Mead and Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam gave $32,400 to the NRCC and National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), respectively, in March. Lobbyist Tom Tauke, a former Republican member of the House, also gave thousands to Republicans. Verizon General Counsel Randal Milch, however, gave $32,400 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and many thousands to other individual Democrats as well as to key Republicans like House Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich. McAdam, Verizon board Chairman Ivan Seidenberg and Executive Vice President John Stratton both gave $10,000 individual contributions to the Republican Party of Kentucky, where McConnell is fighting a fierce race, this past September.

Google Executives Top Spenders

No spending in this sphere compared with the sums dropped by Google executives.

Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt donated $250,000 to the Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC focused on Democratic dominance, in July and contributed $100,000 in June to the Virginia Progress PAC, helping Warner in his battle against Gillespie. The Senate Majority PAC has poured more than $47 million into uncertain races Tuesday. It spent $5.74 million on ads and internal political messages attacking Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., the challenger taking on Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., and $413,789 in favor of Pryor, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Senate Majority PAC spent $11.68 million attacking Tillis in the South Carolina race, $5.59 million attacking McConnell in the Kentucky race and $5.38 million attacking Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., who is challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Udall in a close race.

In July, Schmidt gave $32,400 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He also gave $32,300 to the NRSC last year despite donating much more overwhelmingly to Democrats. Among his donations to candidates this cycle, Schmidt has given to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va.; Eshoo; Goodlatte; House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif.; Lofgren; House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.; Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo.; and Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Cornyn; Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; Markey; McConnell; Mark Warner, D-Va.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Schmidt also donated to Democratic challengers Ro Khanna, seeking to unseat Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., in Silicon Valley, and Sean Eldridge, head of Hudson River Ventures, running in New York for a House seat. Eldridge is husband to Chris Hughes, Facebook co-founder and owner of The New Republic magazine.

Google’s Matt Cutts, who has headed its Web spam team and is currently on leave, also has a record of formidable political spending this cycle, more to PACs and super PACs than to any individual candidates. He gave $190,000 to the Friends of Democracy PAC -- the creation of liberal activist Jonathan Soros -- in April of 2013, for instance, followed by a $95,000 donation to Friends of Democracy this June. Cutts gave as much as $100,000 in one donation to Mayday PAC among many gifts, the most recent on Oct. 8. Harvard Law School professor Larry Lessig created the Mayday PAC this summer to help elect lawmakers backing political spending overhaul. Cutts also gave more than $58,000 to CounterPAC, which also combats lack of transparency in political spending, and $50,000 to Every Voice Action, another super PAC.

Comcast, Fox Executives' Giving

A top Comcast executive's giving leaned Democratic, while 21st Century Fox executives often gave to Republicans.

Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen has shown a particular interest in helping Udall defeat Gardner. He gave a $7,175 donation to the Democratic Party of Colorado on Sept. 10 and a $2,600 donation to Udall last year. Cohen, a fundraiser for President Barack Obama, also gave to Pryor as well as Sens. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, and Tom Udall, D-N.M. Among his giving to political parties, Cohen has given multiple donations of $10,000 to the Democratic Party while also giving $5,000 to the NRSC in June. Cohen also gave to House Republicans in power -- Goodlatte, Upton and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts donated only to the Comcast and NCTA PACs. Comcast's Kyle McSlarrow gave the NRSC $15,000 in June, more than any of Cohen’s donations.

Executives at 21st Century Fox leaned Republican. Executive Vice President-Government Affairs Michael Regan gave the NRCC $32,400 in early October, the same amount that CEO Rupert Murdoch gave in September. Murdoch's son, James, the company’s chief operating officer, gave multiple offerings exceeding $10,000 to the NRCC. The Murdochs also gave to the Republican Party of Kentucky. The partisan bent was less apparent among smaller individual donations from other executives -- Gary Newman, for instance, gave $5,000 to the Ready for Hillary PAC, devoted to a possible White House run from Democratic politician Hillary Clinton. James Murdoch also gave Pryor $2,500 this year, his donations to candidates a mix from both parties.

Dish Network CEO Joseph Clayton and Executive Vice President Thomas Cullen both gave multiple donations of $32,400 to the GOP. Meanwhile, Dish Chairman Charlie Ergen and his wife, Cantey, Dish co-founder and adviser, gave tens of thousands to Democrats, as did Dish General Counsel Stanton Dodge. Cox Enterprises Chairman James Kennedy also made a donation of $25,000 to the NRSC and many smaller donations to members of both parties, including Pryor and Senate Communications Subcommittee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss. Clear Channel Chairman Lowry Mays has pumped multiple donations of $32,400 to the GOP and financially backed myriad candidates, from Boehner to Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, to Sen. Lamar Smith, R-Tenn., to former Republican Senate candidate Liz Cheney, who had been running in Wyoming. Disney CEO Bob Iger and Chairman Alan Horn have donated tens of thousands to the DSCC and DCCC this cycle.

Similar heavyweight partisan spending was not seen from smaller companies' executives, such as those leading Sprint and T-Mobile. Several executives at associations and companies gave more modest sums to choice candidates. USTelecom President Walter McCormick, a Virginia resident, gave $2,600 to Gillespie earlier this year. NAB President Gordon Smith gave $2,500 donations to McConnell and Ayotte this cycle. The largest spending of any DirecTV executive was CEO Michael White’s $10,000 gift to the Republican Party of Massachusetts this September. White also donated money to Markey and McConnell last year.

Leaders and employees of TiVo showered individual political donations on Markey repeatedly this election cycle, virtually all in 2014 and not 2013. TiVo CEO Thomas Rogers gave Markey $2,600 in both March and June. Twenty TiVo employees gave Markey political donations in May, all for $1,000 or more, including TiVo General Counsel Matt Zinn. Rogers also contributed $2,000 both this year and last to the NCTA PAC and $2,500 to House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Eshoo, in February. Eshoo and Markey have allied with TiVo in fighting the set-top box integration ban provision of Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization.