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Trump will get little help from main Republican donors

Trump gets little support from major Republican donors

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference announcing a class action lawsuit against major tech companies at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 07, 2021 in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

Several of the Republican Party’s largest and most influential donors are signaling that, for the moment, at least, they have no plans to fund former President Donald Trump’s political operation.

Wealthy financiers like Stephen Ross and Larry Ellison have instead chosen to spend money on the GOP’s efforts to retake Congress in next year’s midterm elections or have supported potential 2024 presidential candidates like Sens. Marco Rubio from Florida and Tim Scott from South Carolina.

Donors are also concerned about how Trump’s organization is spending the mountains of money it has raised from smaller donations.

“Big money, sophisticated people just lose interest in this s — show,” said an adviser to longtime Trump ally in Silicon Valley. Many donors are tired of seeing the former president use his resources on rallies that often make false claims, including the fact that his election was stolen, this person said.

Trump hasn’t ruled out a 2024 presidential run, and he hasn’t made any official announcements. Its political action committees have raised large amounts of money through email and SMS appeals to supporters who frequently criticize President Joe Biden’s performance, most recently his handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The Trump PACs had over $ 100 million available as of the first half of 2021. CNBC previously reported that its PACs spent nearly $ 8 million on legal fees and over $ 200,000 on Trump’s real estate earlier this year.

“Donors do not donate from the goodness of their hearts. And right now they are being asked to donate to an organization that has no other purpose than pumping money to someone who doesn’t need it and doesn’t use it,” said a Republican Strategist representing financiers on Wall Street: “They have better things to do.”

The donor advisors speaking to CNBC declined to be featured in this story to avoid retaliation from Trump and his supporters.

A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The pro-Trump Make America Great Again Action Super PAC, which raised over $ 1.5 million in July and August, is not without some wealthy donors, according to new federal electoral commission filings. MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who is passionate about false claims about the 2020 election, is among the funders, as are businesswoman and former GOP Senator Kelly Loeffler, Texas bank director Andrew Beal and casino magnate Phillip Ruffin.

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But bigger Republican fundraising forces are instead focusing on efforts by House leadership Kevin McCarthy to retake the House of Representatives and funding pro-GOP redistribution efforts like the National Republican Redistricting Trust. Others support the re-election campaigns of potential presidential candidates in 2024 such as Scott, Rubio and Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis.

Several people who had previously supported Trump recently hosted a fundraiser for DeSantis’ 2022 gubernatorial campaign in the Upper Hamptons, Long Island. The invitation to the July event shows that the event co-hosts included former Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and billionaire investors Stephen Ross, John Paulson and Ken Griffin.

Paulson was one of the few Wall Street donors to support Trump’s 2020 presidential bid in the final phase of the campaign.

Stephen Ross, who also owns the Miami Dolphins, came under fire in 2019 when he hosted a fundraiser for Trump in the Hamptons. Ross and other directors of Related Cos. are investors in the luxury fitness brand Equinox. SoulCycle and Equinox distanced themselves from the Trump event when customers threatened to boycott.

Wilbur Ross and a Paulson representative did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Stephen Ross declined to comment.

Neither Oracle CEO Larry Ellison nor Oracle CEO Safra Catz made large sums of money available to Trump’s PACs after the election. Both helped raise money for Trump’s re-election campaign. Ellison’s California home was the site of a Trump fundraiser last year. However, in June of that year, Ellison donated $ 5 million to a super PAC that supported Scott’s re-election efforts in South Carolina.

A spokesman for Catz and Ellison did not respond to a request for comment.

The Republican Jewish Coalition, whose PAC supported Trump in last year’s elections, is co-hosting a New York fundraiser for Rubio’s 2022 re-election campaign in September, according to an invitation. The RJC’s board of directors includes a number of influential Republicans, including the co-founder of Home Depot , Bernard Marcus, former Trump adviser Jason Greenblatt and former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer.

Trump may also not be able to count on financial help from Miriam Adelson, a mega-donor and widow of the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who died earlier this year. The couple were among the few business leaders who supported Trump in the last election. They gave millions to a pro-Trump super PAC in the last few months of the campaign.

Since her husband’s death, Adelson has privately told her allies that she has no immediate plans to use much of her money in politics for the time being. That could change as the midterms approach. Records show that in June, Adelson contributed $ 5,000 to the Stand for America PAC, a committee formed by potential 2024 contender and former Trump United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

A spokesman for Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands company declined to comment.

Another major Trump and GOP financier is in legal hot water. Investor Tom Barrack was arrested for illegally lobbying then President Trump on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. Barrack has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Even if he had no issues with the Feds, Barrack had hinted that he might not have supported Trump, his longtime friend, for a run in 2024.

“Today it looks like it’s a campaign of division that I’m not interested in,” Barrack told Bloomberg News before he was arrested.

A Barrack spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

Robert Mercer and his daughter Rebekah were huge supporters of Trump during the 2016 campaign, but there is no indication that they will endorse him in 2024. CNBC reported in 2018 that the Mercers were planning to cut their financial support for Trump.

Records show that the Mercers did not write major checks to Trump’s PACs after his presidency.

For the time being, they are banking on a new face in GOP politics: “Hillbilly Elegy” author and venture capitalist JD Vance, who, after criticizing the ex-president, has taken several nationalist positions in the style of Trump in the past.

Robert and Rebekah Mercer together donated $ 150,000 to a Super PAC in March that supports Vance’s candidacy for the Ohio Senate seat, vacated by retiring Republican Rob Portman.

Mercers representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

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Donors encourage Kathy Hochul to run for governor

Donors encourage Kathy Hochul to run for governor

A group of New York’s most influential political donors in business encourage Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul, running for governor, while Andrew Cuomo grapples with various investigations after an official report found he sexually molested several women.

Hochul’s talks with financiers over the past few weeks have focused in part on her political future, including a possible candidacy for governor and the possible assumption of governor if Cuomo resigns or is ousted, people familiar with the matter said .

These discussions came before and after the release of Attorney General Letitia James’ report last week, which listed cases of alleged sexual harassment by Cuomo against at least 11 women. The governor has denied wrongdoing.

A person close to Hochul said many of these recent conversations were initiated by supporters. This person declined to be called to speak freely.

“Everyone turned to her,” said the person. “You give advice and she listens.” That person said Hochul had heard from state lawmakers, business leaders and other elected officials. This person also stressed that it is the lieutenant governor’s job to be ready to take over for the governor when a transition occurs.

Hochul’s conversations with donors and business leaders mark another change in happiness for Cuomo, who has garnered support – and millions of dollars – from senior executives during his three terms as New York governor.

Cuomo hasn’t ruled out running again in 2022. His election campaign war chest was just over $ 18 million at the end of the first half of the year. Cuomo and Hochul are both Democrats.

State campaign funding records show that Hochul’s lieutenant governor’s campaign account has approximately $ 1.7 million available. Should she become governor before Election Day 2022, she would likely be re-elected for a full term next year.

President Joe Biden and other Democratic Party leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have called on Cuomo to step down. Members of the New York State Assembly expect to complete the evidence in their impeachment investigation within a few weeks. Hochul has described the governor’s alleged conduct as “repulsive and illegal” and said it was up to the meeting to determine the next steps.

Meanwhile, many donors who have been with Cuomo’s camp for years have not come to his defense since the report was released last week.

Weeks prior to the release of James’ report, John Yurtchuk, chairman and owner of Buffalo-based tech company Calspan Corp., received a call from Hochul, he said in an interview Monday.

Yurtchuk said he tried to convince Hochul to run for governor.

“I just said, ‘You would be a great governor. I’m just letting you know’ so she knows where her supporters might be. I would stand up for her,” he said.

Yortchuk said, Hochul “kind of said she heard this. She heard this from other people who support her.” He gave Hochul’s $ 5,000 campaign for lieutenant governor in July.

Last week, a media manager and Democratic mega-donor who refused to be named to speak freely said he had heard from Hochul and assumed the conversation meant she was making a connection if she were to become governor. Those close to her have signaled to this executive that they are ready to raise campaign funds for the governor’s race if she should take over Cuomo.

Jeffrey Gural, a property manager who previously contributed to Cuomo’s re-election campaigns, says he spoke to Hochul before James released the report’s findings. Gural publicly tuned Cuomo late last month and gave Hochul’s re-election campaign $ 5,000 in early July.

“I think she would do a great job replacing Andrew. I’ve known her since she ran for Congress and obviously she will have a chance to prove herself once Andrew finds out he’s done,” said Gural in an email on Monday. “Before the report, she never mentioned that she was responsible for anything other than Lt. Gov is running, but I told her I plan to attack Andrew publicly in the hope that my allegations stand and she should be ready. She laughed and I attacked him. “

Gural said Hochul only laughed because she didn’t take his threat to publicly blow up Cuomo seriously.

Another long-time Cuomo donor, who Hochul has known for years, is already preparing to take calls from her if Cuomo leaves office before next year’s elections.

“With his departure now (if it happens), Kathy will be in a strong position as she has several months to build rule over the party before the election shows up,” this donor wrote in an email to CNBC. “If he stayed but didn’t run for re-election, their chances would be severely limited.”

This person declined to be named to avoid retaliation from the governor.

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Liz Cheney high donors again her regardless of push to oust her from GOP management

Liz Cheney top donors back her despite push to oust her from GOP leadership

Liz Cheney’s finest financial backer stands by her side despite the House Republicans attempting to remove her as conference leader.

According to donors who spoke to CNBC, Cheney, who represents the state of Wyoming, is unlikely to lose any of her key leaders even if she is ousted as the official leader within the House’s Republican caucus.

Some even say they will withhold contributions from anyone who opposes Cheney. This signals a split in the wealthy Republican donor ranks between big-money financiers who continue to support former President Donald Trump and those who better match Cheney’s views that Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair.

Eric Levine, owner of Eiseman Levine law firm and Republican fundraiser, told CNBC in an email on Wednesday that Cheney’s corporate supporters intend to continue to support them. These donors are concerned about Trump’s influence on the Republican Party and how these forces will affect future elections. Levine gave over $ 2,800 to a joint Cheney fundraising committee in the first quarter, records show.

“With a few exceptions, this group appears to be all in support of Cheney and is very concerned about Trumpism,” Levine said. “Republicans can only win if we can make significant progress in the suburbs and with women. Donald Trump is a proven loser in these districts,” he added.

Republicans hope to win back majorities in the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections. Cheney is up for re-election next year and numerous Republicans have announced primary campaigns against her.

Cheney’s spokesman did not return a request for comment on this story.

New York MP Elise Stefanik has received support from House GOP leaders such as Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., To replace Cheney as conference leader. Kevin McCarthy, minority chairman of the House of Representatives, R-Calif, said in an interview with Fox News that he had heard from members who were “concerned about them” [Cheney’s] Ability to carry out the work of conference leader, carry out the message. “

Although Cheney was more in line with Trump’s positions than Stefanik, according to FiveThirtyEight, the former also supported the indictment against him following the deadly January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. Cheney has consistently accused Trump of instigating the uprising that killed at least five people.

Stefanik, on the other hand, questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Trump. Trump himself approved Stefanik for the leadership role and beat up Cheney on Wednesday for her stance on the election.

CNBC reached out to many of Cheney’s leading donors, who have donated up to $ 2,800 to Team Cheney, a joint fundraising committee that raises campaign money for Cheney’s political re-election campaign, its Leadership Political Action Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee .

Cheney’s re-election campaign grossed just over $ 1.5 million in the first quarter of this year, Federal Election Commission records show. Part of that success was due to contributions from PACs from companies such as Pfizer, T-Mobile, Morgan Stanley, and General Electric.

Some companies said after the Capitol uprising they were pausing donations to lawmakers who questioned election results.

Tony Fratto, founder of the communications firm Hamilton Place Strategies and former deputy press secretary under President George W. Bush, gave the committee $ 2,800 in January. Fratto has blown the Republican leadership’s move to remove Cheney, saying he will not support anyone who opposes her.

“It’s absurd. Every word Liz Cheney said about the 2020 election result, the events of January 6 and the damage Republicans did for lying about both of them is spot on,” Fratto said on Tuesday. “I will support Liz as long as she is in office, whether in leadership or not. And I will never support a member who opposes her.” The congressman’s father, Dick Cheney, was Bush’s vice president.

A Wall Street executive who submitted a donation to the Cheney Committee in the latter part of the quarter told CNBC that if GOP leaders crack down on Wyoming lawmakers, individual corporate donors will flee the Republican Party. This person declined to be named to avoid retaliation for speaking out against Trump.

“It is one of the last hopes that the Republican Party has not lost its mind. If it is ostracized, many people will go with it,” said this financier. “Corporate donors and lobbyists have to be strategic, but there is a really important principle at stake in what happens to her.”

Reginald Brown, attorney and special assistant to Bush in the early 2000s, told CNBC that for many donors, Cheney acts as a counterbalance to some of the pro-Trump forces within the Republican Party.

“It’s a buy-and-hold investment for those interested in the long Republican game. A GOP that has no place for female leaders or people who think the Capitol attack is insane is nowhere.” fast, “Brown said in an email to CNBC. “Most business people prefer Liz to the bare-chested, horned man in the Capitol and the people who poked him.” Brown gave Cheney $ 2,800 in February.

Devon Spurgeon, a partner in communications company Sheridan Strategies, donated $ 1,000 to Team Cheney in February. Spurgeon said that with these attacks by the House Republican leaders, Cheney is well on its way to attract new donors and ignite their supporter base.

“Liz is an independent thinker, she doesn’t take instructions from anyone. This is clearly a problem for certain housekeeping members,” Spurgeon told CNBC in a LinkedIn message.

The addition of new donors has been an obvious topic on Cheney since she voted to indict Trump.

Lawrence Mandelker, an attorney for Eiseman Levine who told CNBC he was a Democrat and worked with members of both parties, admitted that one of the reasons he gave Cheney’s re-election efforts was her vote to indict Trump.

“Although I disagree with most of your substantive political questions, it was just important enough to thank you for your courageous profile,” said Mandelker in a telephone interview on Wednesday. He gave Team Cheney $ 1,000 in March, records show.

Mandelker said he will continue to support her offer for re-election in 2022 and will not donate to Stefan’s campaign.

“I would never give her money because she drank the Kool-Aid,” he described Stefanik’s appearance of ultimate loyalty to the former president.

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Trump Backs New Group for Conservative Donors

Trump Backs New Group for Conservative Donors

Former President Donald J. Trump supports a group whose officials say it will aim to fight the sprawling democratic donor network, the Democracy Alliance. This is Trump’s most recent attempt to shape and campaign for Republican fundraisers since leaving the White House.

The group, known as the America Alliance, will urge donors to make annual dues and commit to giving $ 100,000 to candidates and organizations recommended by the umbrella group. This is evident from internal documents and people who are familiar with the plans. Mr Trump has asked Michael Glassner, the former chief operating officer of the 2020 Trump re-election campaign, to become the chief executive officer.

The new group will recommend making contributions to companies founded or partnered with Trump allies, as well as organizations affiliated with Mr. Trump, including a proposed Super PAC and his own multi-candidate PAC.

Internal documents for the group, reviewed by the New York Times, contain a notice that No. Employees “are paid on a commission basis.”

Mr Trump said in a statement to the Times that the group – as well as its own candidate committees and party committees – was a way to gain a foothold against Democrats.

“Republicans have been at a fundraising disadvantage for years, but now we’re going to beat the Democrats at their own game thanks to Save America, Make America Great Again PAC, the America Alliance, our fine party committees, and all of our other support groups,” said Mr. Trump.

The group was originally conceived by Caroline Wren, a professional fundraiser who worked for officials like Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and worked on the former president’s re-election campaign. When it was first given to donors weeks ago, some aides to Mr Trump said he was dissatisfied with its existence because it competed with other groups he supported and that he hadn’t signed it. Since then, he has become aware of the idea of ​​a new group that, according to official information, will focus on grassroots activities and donations to other organizations.

Mr. Trump decided to install Mr. Glassner at the top of the structure, with Ms. Wren working for Mr. Glassner as a senior advisor along with a number of other senior executives and a board of directors of a dozen advisors.

Ms. Wren has told strategists that she has met more than 100 donors in the past five months and has repeatedly heard a wish that these types of businesses can channel money more effectively.

Mr Trump’s move comes as the Republican donor class enters an intermediate and new presidential cycle in which the Republican National Committee, Congressional committees, and individual candidate committees vie for donor support.

Mr. Trump’s Political Action Committee, Save America, has nearly $ 90 million in store, raised mostly in the weeks following the November 3 elections, which he falsely claimed were stolen from him. The former president has repeatedly drawn lots for fundraisers at his private club, Mar-a-Lago, for candidates seeking his support.

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Trump tells donors to offer cash to him, not Republicans ‘in title solely’

Trump tells donors to give money to him, not Republicans 'in name only'

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held at the Hyatt Regency in Orlando, Florida on February 28, 2021.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump is competing with the GOP’s fundraiser and beating its members, further complicating his status as the Republican Party leader.

“No more money for RINOs,” Trump said in a donation email Monday night, referring to “Republicans on behalf only,” a term used to beat up moderate GOP politicians accused of how Rule Democrats.

Trump, without specifying his goals by name, claimed that they “are doing nothing but violate the Republican Party and our large electoral base – they will never lead us to greatness.”

In an overt attempt to clarify this, Trump made a follow-up statement Tuesday afternoon in which he said, “I fully support the Republican Party and key GOP committees, but I do not support RINOs and fools.”

Trump added that “it is not their right to use my likeness or image to fundraise” – a reference to his growing feud with the Republican Party over the use of his name and likeness in their fundraising drives.

Both statements were sent by Trump’s Save America Political Action Committee, and both statements urged his supporters to donate to this PAC. “So much money is being raised and completely wasted by people who do not have the interests of the GOP in mind,” said Trump’s latest statement.

These inquiries reflected Trump’s recent Orlando speech – his first public statement after the presidency – in which he told a crowd of supporters that his own PAC was the only way to vote America First Republican Conservatives.

Redirecting Republican cash flow into his own war chest, if successful, could help Trump gain a grip on the party in order to undermine his perceived enemies therein. However, experts say promoting his own PAC could bring other benefits for Trump as well.

PACs like Save America can raise funds for political expenses like supporting candidates, and Trump could use it to lay the foundation for a presidential campaign in 2024. But they “can be used for almost anything else,” said Brendan Fischer. Director of the Federal Reform Program at the Campaign Legal Center.

“Given the amount of money raised, it is entirely possible that Trump could use Save America to maintain control and influence over the Republican Party and to personally help himself and his family members,” Fischer said in an interview with CNBC.

The Associated Press reported in early March that Save America had more than $ 80 million in cash.

Trump, who never officially admitted defeat to President Joe Biden, has barely resigned from politics since his tenure ended on Jan. 20. Trump has now presented himself as the de facto leader and future of his party at his Palm Beach, Florida home, while regularly targeting prominent Republicans who are still in office.

Even if Trump teases a possible 2024 presidential campaign on the Republican ticket, he is urging the Republican National Committee to stop using his name and image in their donation messages.

Trump’s attorneys sent cease and desist letters to the RNC, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senate Committee on Friday, NBC News reported.

On Monday, RNC chief attorney J. Justin Riemer denied the request, telling Save America attorney Alex Cannon that Trump and RNC chairman Ronna McDaniel had settled the dispute.

“We understand that President Trump has reaffirmed this [McDaniel] over the weekend he approves the RNC’s current use of his name for fundraising and other materials, including our upcoming Palm Beach donor retreat event that we look forward to seeing, “Riemer wrote in a letter to Cannon.

The letter, passed on to CNBC by the RNC, stated that the committee “has not sent or used his image on President Trump’s behalf or used his image since he left office, and would not do without his prior consent.”

Riemer added, “The RNC has, of course, the right to refer to public figures when it comes to a key political speech protected by First Amendment, and will continue to do so in pursuit of these common goals. “

Trump’s Monday night email deciphering “RINOs” and asking for donations to the Save America PAC appeared to contradict Riemer’s claim that Trump and McDaniel had reached an agreement on the matter.

A Trump spokesman did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the back and forth with the RNC. A contact for the Save America PAC did not respond to a request for comment.

The Republicans lost the White House and the Senate majority after Trump’s presidency. But the Republican Party and many of its leaders have allied themselves closely with Trump, whose popularity continues among huge segments of the GOP electorate.

Some Republicans have openly condemned Trump for his behavior before and after the January 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol, which resulted in five deaths and forced a joint session of Congress to go into hiding. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, said in late February, “I don’t think so [Trump] should play a role in the future of the party or the country. “

But more Republicans have avoided criticizing Trump even after the invasion, which appeared to have little impact on the former president’s general support at his base. Others who initially distanced themselves from Trump after the deadly uprising, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, later reiterated their support for him.

Even Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Who convicted Trump of false conspiracies for election theft, recently said he would “absolutely” support Trump if he became a GOP candidate in 2024.

Meanwhile, numerous other Republicans who allegedly have presidential ambitions appear to have taken steps to launch their own campaigns while being careful not to cross Trump.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly heading to South Carolina, a major state on the president’s main map, next month to deliver his first public address since leaving office.

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Pete Buttigieg donors scored contracts from South Bend when he was mayor

Pete Buttigieg donors scored contracts from South Bend when he was mayor

Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s candidate for Secretary of Transportation, reacts to his nomination as Biden looks on during a press conference on December 16, 2020 at Biden’s interim headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, USA .

Kevin Lemarque | Reuters

Pete Buttigieg, Joe Biden’s election as Secretary of Transportation and former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, received presidential campaign donations from executives of companies that had public works contracts with the city while he was running it.

A CNBC review of dozens of the city’s infrastructure contracts during his second term as mayor from 2016-2020 shows that under Buttigieg, some of the city’s spending went to contractors who would later become donors to his presidential campaign, which he launched in 2019.

If approved by the US Senate, Buttigieg, as head of the Department of Transportation, would be responsible for driving the incoming administration’s infrastructure proposals forward.

Buttigieg is 38 years old and is considered a rising star in the National Democratic Party. His role as transport secretary could strengthen him if he aspires to a higher office again.

Several of the contractors produced new roads, bridges and buildings for the city. South Bend’s latest budget is over $ 350 million. The Department of Transportation will start the new year with a budget of over $ 80 billion. Buttigieg proposed a $ 1 trillion infrastructure plan when he ran for president.

Data from the bipartisan Center for Responsive Politics shows Buttigieg raised nearly $ 100 million during his presidential campaign. About $ 2 million came from real estate donors.

A report from the Center for Public Integrity and progressive media company The Young Turks shows that Buttigieg received similar contributions from city entrepreneurs when he first ran for mayor in 2011. In this case, potential contractors gave something to his political organization, and they then received funding agreements from the city after submitting competitive bids. These offers were then approved by the Public Works Authority.

The Buttigieg team answers

After CNBC finalized most of the contracts and resulting contributions to the Biden transition team, a Buttigieg spokesperson sent CNBC a detailed response. The representative declined to be included in this story.

The spokesman said Buttigieg was not involved in the projects while noting that the companies did business with the city before Buttigieg became mayor. The spokesman also said leaders have run other Democratic presidential campaigns in the past, including Bidens, Hillary Clintons and Barack Obamas. Some also gave up to Republicans.

“Pete avoided delving into who got those contracts for that very reason. And I’d also like to point out that on Pete’s first day as mayor, he put in place a code of ethics and signed a responsible bidder regulation in 2018 to ensure that taxpayers’ dollars are preserved efficiently spent by responsible contractors, “said the Buttigieg spokesman.

The spokesman noted that Buttigieg signed an executive order in 2012 that stipulated that any government employee, including himself, would not knowingly solicit or receive gifts or favors from any person who has a business relationship or seeks business from a city authority.

“You link to contracts that have been approved by the Board of Public Works, which meets in public, does its business in public and approves those contracts through an open and transparent procurement process that goes through a bidding process, and as I said earlier – has little involvement from the mayor, “said the representative.

CNBC provided the City of South Bend with details of most of the contracts approved by the Board of Public Works and the executives who later contributed to Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. A spokesman defended the company.

“Each of these firms is highly regarded and has a local reputation for providing quality services to the city and residents of South Bend,” Mayor’s press secretary Caleb Bauer told CNBC. “Each of these contracts also went through a professional procurement process, which is public and transparent, before being approved by the public works agency, which is governed by state law.”

Still, some Democrats expect Republicans to make a big deal out of the contributions Buttigieg has received from contractors.

“He’s been charged with conflicts of interest, and if the Republicans hold the Senate, he’s going to go through a very, very tough ratification process,” said veteran Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf.

Companies and contracts

In 2017, construction company Walsh & Kelly signed a $ 600,000 contract with South Bend for a future Courtyard Marriott hotel. Two years later, the company received contracts valued at just over $ 2.4 million from South Bend. The hotel opened in 2018.

Walsh & Kelly President Kevin Kelly contributed $ 2,700 to Buttigieg’s presidential campaign, according to CRP data. This is almost the maximum contribution a person can legally make to a campaign.

Walsh & Kelly did not return comments-seeking calls.

Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott, gave Buttigieg’s campaign the maximum amount of $ 2,800, records show.

A Marriott spokeswoman defended Sorenson’s donation to Buttigieg’s political organization.

“Arne Sorenson personally supported Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign because his wife and children were inspired by his campaign,” Elynsey Price, a spokesman for the hotel chain, told CNBC. “Whatever was going on near or in relation to the South Bend hotels would have been the responsibility of our franchisees or owners, not Marriott.”

South Bend real estate development firm JSK Hospitality closed one of its largest deals in 2018 when a subsidiary of the company bought the former College Football Hall of Fame building in town for over $ 525,000, according to the South Bend Tribune. The CEO, AJ Patel, gave $ 1,000 to the Buttigieg campaign. The Courtyard Marriott is part of the company’s hotel portfolio.

CNBC was unable to leave a message on JSK Hospitality’s general voicemail box on Tuesday because the voicemail was full. The same was true of Patel’s line. Instead, CNBC left a message for the company’s CFO, who didn’t respond to a request for comment.

In 2017, the city reached an agreement with Epoch Architecture to build a new fire station in South Bend. The company agreed to make payments from the city of over $ 280,000 for the project. The director of the engineering and architecture firm, Kyle Copelin, later gave $ 500 to the Buttigieg campaign, records show.

Copelin did not respond to a request for comment.

In 2017, the city signed at least three contracts with Jones Petrie Rafinski, an architecture and engineering firm with offices in South Bend. The company had over $ 200,000 worth of business with the city that year. Two years later, the company’s vice president David Rafinski donated $ 500 to Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. His company also had other contracts with South Bend in 2019.

Rafinski told CNBC that he has no interaction with Buttigieg’s executive team while his company works for South Bend.

“We have been a customer of South Bend since Pete was in high school,” said Rafinski. “The work we do is done through the Board of Public Works. We had no interaction with Pete at all with our work. It was all through the Board of Public Works.” Rafinski said he supported Buttigieg’s presidential campaign because he believed the former mayor’s “compassion” was needed in national politics.

South Bend also signed a consultancy agreement with the Canadian company Stantec in 2017. The order was valued at over $ 105,000. The agreement with the design and engineering firm appeared to go through the nearby Chicago offices. Later, Michael Toolis, who is a Stantec vice president according to LinkedIn, gave $ 2,000 to Buttigieg’s presidential campaign. Toolis was once employed by VOA Associates, a Midwestern design firm that previously worked at the University of Notre Dame. VOA was taken over by Stantec in 2016.

“The company does not allow political contributions to candidates on its behalf,” Stantec spokeswoman Laura Leopold replied in a one-line email to questions from CNBC.

American Structurepoint, an engineering firm headquartered in Indianapolis, won at least seven $ 300,000 contracts in 2018 for consulting and other services for South Bend. Greg Henneke, the senior executive vice president, gave Buttigieg’s presidential campaign $ 2,700 a year later.

Both Stantec and American Structurepoint had contracts with the city in 2019.

An American Structurepoint spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.