In September, a Deadspin analysis of Charles Johnson’s political donations showed that the owner of the San Francisco Giants had given $1.7 million to Republican causes in 2020 alone, including donations to 46 individual candidates.
Not surprisingly, Johnson’s firehose of cash for right-wingers didn’t dry up after that. Since the initial report, not only did Johnson keep funneling money to conservatives, he added additional candidates to his roster, and more donation filings made their way into the database at opensecrets.org, a project of the Center for Responsible Politics.
In addition to some follow-up donations to candidates, Johnson found 39 new Republicans running for office to throw money at, plus a bunch more in PAC donations. Johnson’s $795,000 in political spending over the past few months brings his 2020 total to $2.5 million, supporting PACs and a whopping 85 individual candidates.
One of those new candidates getting Johnson’s money was Kelly Loeffler, in her attempt to hang onto the Senate seat in Georgia that she wasn’t elected to. Think of it as MLB-WNBA revenue sharing? For another sports tie, Johnson, naturally, gave $5,600 to Tommy Tuberville’s winning campaign for Senate in Alabama. And, of course, former Ohio State assistant wrestling coach Jim Jordan got $2,800.
The other candidates Johnson gave new support to ranged from Morgan Griffith, who ran unopposed in Virginia’s 9th District, to Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), whose ads seemed to play on a loop in the Big Apple during the World Series — so, who says the Giants weren’t involved in this year’s playoffs?
So, after all that, what kind of bang did Johnson get for his buck? Not that it matters all that much to him, because as someone worth $4.2 billion, he only spent about 1% of that point-2 part. But how did his candidates come out?
Senate, Won: Shelley Moore Capito (WV), Tom Cotton (AR), Steve Daines (MT), Joni Ernst (IA), Cynthia Lummis (WY), Bill Hagerty (TN), Roger Marshall (KS), Tommy Tuberville (AL)
Senate, Lost: Don Bolduc (NH)*, Jason Lewis (MN), Martha McSally (AZ)
Senate, Going To Runoff: Kelly Loeffler (GA)
Senate, Leading: Thom Tillis (NC)
Senate, Not Up For Election In 2020: Tim Scott (SC)
House, Won: Jodey Arrington (TX-19), Stephanie Bice (OK-5), Dan Bishop (NC-9), Lauren Boebert (CO-3), Madison Cawthorn (NC-11), Dan Crenshaw (TX-2), Byron Donalds (FL-19), Michelle Fischbach (MN-7), Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1), Scott Franklin (FL-15), Andrew Garabino (NY-2), Carlos Gimenez (FL-26), Tony Gonzales (TX-23), Morgan Griffith (VA-9), Andy Harris (MD-1), Yvette Herrell (NM-2), Jim Jordan (OH-4), Jake LaTurner (KS-2), Nancy Mace (SC-1), Troy Nehls (TX-22), Matt Rosendale (MT-At Large), Bryan Steil (WI-1), Steve Stivers (OH-15)
House, Lost: Aliscia Andrews (VA-10), Kathy Barnette (PA-4), Leon Benjamin (VA-4), Genevieve Collins (TX-32), Joe Collins (CA-43), John Cummings (NY-14), Carmelita Greco (MI-11)*, Christina Hagan (OH-13), Karen Handel (GA-6), Wesley Hunt (TX-7), Jeanne Ives (IL-6), Sean Jackson (FL-7)*, Tom Kean Jr. (NJ-7), Kimberly Klacik (MD-7), Mike LiPetri (NY-2)*, Anna Paulina Luna (FL-13), Amanda Makki (FL-13)*, John McGuire (VA-7)*, Matt Mowers (NH-1), Greg Raths (CA-45), Alek Skarlatos (OR-4), Doug Slocum (MI-10)*, Sandy Smith (NC-1), Carla Spalding (FL-23), Lisa Song Sutton (NV-4)*, Derrick Van Orden (WI-3)
House, Leading: Jim Bognet (PA-8), Darrell Issa (CA-50), Young Kim (CA-39), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11), Peter Meijer (MI-3), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-2), Jim Oberweis (IL-14), Sean Parnell (PA-17), Lisa Scheller (PA-7), Victoria Spartz (IN-5), Michelle Steel (CA-48), David Valadao (CA-21), Jeff Van Drew (NJ-2), Beth Van Duyne (TX-24)
House, Trailing: Mike Garcia (CA-25), Tyler Kistner (MN-2), Esther Joy King (IL-17), Jim Marchant (NV-4), Brian Maryott (CA-49), Burgess Owens (UT-4), Dan Rodimer (NV-3), David Young (IA-3)
* – lost primary or withdrew from race
Results from The Associated Press’ race calls as of Wednesday afternoon
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