Who Bankrolled Connecticut Candidates?
Sources: Open Secrets; Marc E. Fitch, CT Inside Investigator
Connecticut donors pumped nearly $60 million into Democrat candidates and PACs, while only $30 million went toward Republicans. In total, Connecticut political donors poured $165 million into campaigns, candidates, and PACs during the 2024 federal election. Most of that money – roughly $70 million – came out of Greenwich, followed by Westport with $7.6 million.
In the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris saw the most donations from Connecticut by far, totaling $17 million, compared to $3.5 million to President Donald Trump, who won re-election.
While most of the political money flowing from Connecticut went toward Democrats, the top donor from Connecticut was America First – affiliated with America First Action, a SuperPAC that supports Donald Trump and is chaired by Linda McMahon, co-founder of the WWE who unsuccessfully ran for senate in 2010 and 2012. America First poured $16.3 million into Republican campaigns and PACs during the 2024 election cycle.
The other major donations from Connecticut largely came from individuals associated with investment firms like Lone Pine Capital, founded by Connecticut billionaire Stephen Mandel, Jr. Donors associated with or employed by the firm gave $14.4 million in donations, almost entirely to Democrat campaigns and organizations. Mandel and his wife, Susan, have also put hundreds of thousands into a Connecticut absentee ballot referendum question, and another $1.5 million into Impact CT, an independent expenditure organization supporting Connecticut Democrats.
Individuals associated with or employed by private equity firm Bluff Point Associates and Old Lyme-based Hamilton Point Investments contributed $2.8 million and $2.6 million respectively, mostly toward Republican candidates and organizations.
Employees of Charter Communications rounded out the top five largest donors during the 2024 election cycle with $1.7 million spread across both parties.
Connecticut’s well-known securities and investment industry, largely based in Fairfield County, was responsible for the most political donations with $34.1 million, followed by Connecticut retirees, who donated $23 million.
All five members of Connecticut’s House delegation were running for reelection this year, along with Sen. Chris Murphy, and fundraising for the races was only close in the 5th district – a rematch between Republican candidate George Logan and Rep. Jahana Hayes which Hayes won in 2022 by a very small margin. Hayes received $3.8 million in donations, compared to Logan’s $2.5 million, and increased her margin of victory this year.
The only other congressional race in which the Republican challenger raised any significant funds was former state representative Mike France in his race against incumbent Joe Courtney. France raised $627,000 compared to Courtney’s $1.1 million.
Murphy raised a war chest of more than $14 million compared to Republican challenger Matthew Corey, who raised nearly $200,000. Both Courtney and Murphy won their respective races.
Fairfield County, which includes Greenwich, accounted for the most political donations geographically with $113 million – nearly 60 percent of which went toward Democrats, as the political makeup of Connecticut’s gold coast has shifted over the past two decades.
New Haven County accounted for $18.5 million, followed by Hartford County with $14.7 million. Only New London County saw more donations toward Republican candidates and PACs than Democrats by a six-point margin, according to Open Secrets.
Left-over campaign committee funds are often funneled toward national, state, or local political parties, held for future campaigns, or used to create a new PAC, essentially creating a positive feedback loop for victorious campaigns that have leftover funds. Unused PAC money is often returned to donors.
