New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg picked quite a few winners with his election giving.
Politico notes that some candidates that the billionaire mayor’s Super PAC supported beat candidates backed by the National Rifle Association (Bloomberg’s a gun control advocate). Other Bloomberg-backed winners included ballot battles related to same-sex marriage (Bloomberg’s a supporter) and independent Maine Senate candidate Angus King (Bloomberg’s an independent-minded guy).
Not all candidates backed by Bloomberg though were winners. Moderate Illinois Republican Rep. Robert Dold – whom Bloomberg’s Super PAC supported — was defeated by Democrat Brad Schneider.
Fellow billionare Sheldon Adelson — who poured more tens of million of his own money into the presidential election and other races — did not have as good of luck.
Forbes reports:
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Adelson was the single largest money man of the 2012 cycle, spending more than $53 million on super PACs bankrolling a Romney victory as well as those funding Senate and House races.
All the Republicans he backed at state level — Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in New Jersey, George Allen in Virginia, and Connie Mack in Florida, among them — lost but for one: Nevada’s new Senator Dean Heller, who ran against Adelson’s lawyer-turned-nemesis Shelley Berkley. Add the casino billionaire’s primary candidate of choice Newt Gingrich, who he backed to the tune of $20 million, to his negative tally.
Open Zion’s Ali Gharib, however, suggests that Adelson might see the Heller win/Berkley defeat as a nice consolation prize.
Adelson gave generously to Boteach’s campaign. But the Orthodox rabbi, media personality, and "Kosher Sex" author lost by a nearly three-to-one margin to incumbent Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.).
Asked by a reporter about how he thought his political donations were spent, Adelson joked: “Paying bills. That’s how you spend money. Either that or become a Jewish husband — you spend a lot of money.”
Watch video of Adelson from Norwegian TV here.
