Hollywood Democrats Pour Money Into Midterms With A Tinge Of Hope And A Lot Of Caution

Ted Johnson
·7-min read

When a stream of Democratic candidates trek to Los Angeles this month in likely their final effort to raise money before the midterms, they will be met by Hollywood supporters who are less deflated than they once were about the party’s prospects in November: Call them cautious, if maybe a bit more optimistic.

President Joe Biden’s recent legislative wins, coupled with a renewed focus on the chaos of Donald Trump, has given industry Democrats reason to believe that the party won’t face quite the drubbing that they did in the past. The backlash to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade, fueling a new wave of activism within the industry, has raised hopes that it will translate into improved turnout, and perhaps even match what is expected on the GOP side.

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The victory last week of Pat Ryan in a purple New York congressional district was seen as a bit of a bellwether, as he emphasized the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling and the need to protect a women’s right to choose. And even if retaining the House still seems like a long shot, the chances are better in the Senate, particularly given the missteps of Republican candidates in key races, including Dr. Oz in Pennsylvania, while their Democratic rivals highlight their extreme positions.

In the coming weeks, candidates including Beto O’Rourke, challenging Texas Gov. Greg Abbott; Mandela Barnes, running to unseat  Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH), seeking an open seat in Ohio, are planning to headline L.A. fundraisers, while administration figures like Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg are expected to help draw donors and supporters to various events. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), facing a tight race for reelection, raised money last week at an event along with Cheri Beasley, seeking a U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina.

Already, figures like Carole King and Bradley Whitford have lent their names to fundraising emails, while Hollywood money has poured into a number of super PACs seeking to protect the Democratic majority.

“In terms of people’s excitement level and people getting worked up, it is night and day” versus earlier in the year, said Mathew Littman, a strategist who leads the Entertainment Industry Working Group, a set of politically engaged actors, writers and other creatives. It is not a fund-raising entity.

Ken Solomon, president of the Tennis Channel, who has been giving to numerous candidates, said that there is a “cautious and measured optimism” over the party’s prospects, or the idea that the historic pattern of midterm losses for the party in power “may not swing quite as hard.”

He said that the Supreme Court decision “has made real what was unimaginable to many people. Abortion rights and reproductive rights are things that are really ringing the bell for people on the reality of where we stand.”

As bleak as prospects seemed at the start of the summer, Democrats actually have been positing solid fundraising numbers, including from the entertainment industry.

Showbiz donors have contributed almost $45 million to federal candidates and committees as of mid-August according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That likely has a shot at matching the more than $58 million raised in the 2018 cycle, when many Democrats ran as a check on then-President Donald Trump. According to the CRP, 88% of the showbiz money this cycle has gone to Democrats and 12% to Republicans. Lopsided as the figures are, the exception is the Motion Picture Association and media corporate PACs which, as they traditionally do, spread the wealth between the parties.

The top recipient, according to the data, is Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), who has collected just over $875,000 from industry sources, as he is in a tight race against Herschel Walker for a full U.S. Senate term.

Ted Snowdon Productions, the theatrical producer, accounted for the top contributions, with just over $2.5 million, all to Democrats, followed by employees at Fox Corp. at almost $2.4 million, with 52.5% of that amount going to Republican candidates.

What has helped drive up the numbers, though, have been big outlays to super PACs, which can collect unlimited contributions from donors.

One of the largest donations to the Senate Majority PAC, seeking to retain or expand the Democrats’ Senate majority, is Netflix’s Reed Hastings, who gave $2 million. Other significant contributions came from Seth MacFarlane and Jeff Skoll, who each have given $1 million. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) may be returning for another SMP fundraiser this fall.

Haim and Cheryl Saban each have given $500,000 to the Democratic Grassroots Victory Fund, set up to raise money for the Democratic National Committee and state parties, while MacFarlane has given $365,000. Other six-figure contributions have come from Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, J.J. Abrams and Katie McGrath, Byron Allen and Jake Kasdan.

Nancy Pelosi has been among the most prolific and effective fundraisers for Democrats as they defend a very thin majority in the House. She’s returning for a Sept. 10 event at the home of Alan and Cindy Horn, according to a source.

The Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund has drawn significant contributions from figures including Joan Ganz Cooney, one of the founders of Sesame Workshop, who has given $266,300, with Saban and MacFarlane each giving nearly equal amounts. Katzenberg contributed $263,400 this year and $263,400 in contributions last year, according to Federal Election Commission data, while Spielberg gave $133,150 in June and $150,000 last year. Others who have written six-figure checks include Allen and Marcy Carsey.

Andy Spahn, political consultant with Gonring Lin Spahn, said he was “very optimistic” about the Democrats’ chances to hold the Senate or expand their majority, while “the House will be tougher but the political climate has improved dramatically for Democrats in the past few weeks.”

“Donor enthusiasm remains strong. Donors understand the stakes could not be greater,” he said via email. “The next couple of years are truly about saving our democracy.”

Adam McKay, who has shunned the fundraising circuit and has been outspoken about the influence of money in politics, said that he is now more optimistic after Biden issued an executive order to cancel a portion of student debt, something he sees as “exactly what people have been begging for for years.” (See sidebar here).

The Entertainment Industry Working Group plans to travel to Michigan for get-out-the-vote efforts, with actors, writers and directors aiming to help candidates such as Jocelyn Benson, seeking another term as secretary of state, and Gretchen Whitmer, seeking reelection as governor.

“People were really burnt out and despondent” earlier in the year, and it seemed to peak with the abortion decision, Littman said.

The caution comes from the fact that there still are two months until the election. Polls in 2020 predicted Democratic gains in Congress, but the party lost seats in the House. And many Democrats candidates have yet to face the avalanche of ads from GOP Senate committees and PACs in states like Ohio and Wisconsin.

Biden, meanwhile, spoke on Thursday evening about the “continued battle for the soul of the nation,” tying in his campaign theme that Republicans have embraced an extreme “ultra MAGA” agenda. With Trump again tearing up social media with barrages of messages, there is a sense that the coming election may be less of a referendum on the current occupant of the White House.

If the message is that the GOP has embraced extremist candidates and positions, Solomon noted, “that makes …common sense and sanity seem like a better respite for voters.”

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