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appalachiablue

(44,020 posts)
Sun Mar 29, 2026, 05:21 PM 3 hrs ago

Modern-Day Royalty: 50 Billionaire Families Already Pumped $430 Mill Into Midterms 'No Billionare Can Purchase A Crown'

- Modern-Day Royalty’: 50 Billionaire Families Have Already Pumped Over $430 Million Into Midterms. 💰
⚡ “Billionaires are on track to break their $1 billion midterm spending record,” said Americans for Tax Fairness. Jake Johnson, March 25, 2026.
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📸 PHOTO: Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalist Shivon Zilis arrive at Mar-a-Lago on Feb. 1, 2026 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Al Drago/Getty Images)
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Just 50 billionaire families in the United States have already dumped more than $430 million into the 2026 midterms, with the vast majority of the money flowing to Republican candidates and right-wing organizations such as MAGA Inc.—a super PAC aligned with President Donald Trump. The progressive advocacy group Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) released an analysis on Wednesday examining the most recent Federal Election Commission data, which underscores increasingly aggressive billionaire efforts to use their immense wealth to secure their favored political outcomes.

In the 2024 federal elections, billionaires accounted for nearly 20% of all donations.

Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, tops the list of 2026 campaign spenders so far, donating roughly $71 million—including $10 million in support of a pro-Trump candidate running to succeed Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Behind Musk is businessman Jeff Yass, a relatively low-profile billionaire who has spent millions in recent years promoting school privatization. Yass has so far spent $55 million in the 2026 midterm cycle, $16 million of which went to MAGA Inc.—the largest recipient of the billionaire’s donations.

Combined, the 50 top-spending billionaire families—which ATF describes as “modern-day royalty”—have poured $433 million into the 2026 midterms to date. “Billionaires are on track to break their $1 billion midterm spending record,” ATF noted on social media, referring to the 2022 midterms. “The spending is projected to grow exponentially as November approaches.” ATF published its analysis days ahead of the latest round of nationwide “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration this coming Saturday, March 28.

“The American people reject kings, political or financial,” David Kass, executive director of ATF, said in a statement on Wednesday. “Whether it’s an out-of-control chief executive in the White House or a billionaire wielding his huge fortune to influence elections, anti-democratic behavior is anathema to the American public.” “As we approach the 250th anniversary of our independence from the British monarchy,” Kass added, “it’s more important than ever that we reform our campaign-finance and tax laws so that no billionaire can purchase a crown.”...👑

https://www.commondreams.org/news/billionaire-spending-2026-midterms

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