Donations by Connecticut residents to Democrats at the federal level doubled donations to Republicans during the 2024 election cycle, with the vast majority of money coming from Greenwich, according to Open Secrets. Although raising more money does not always equate to political victory, for Connecticut’s congressional and senate candidates this year it did, with incumbents hanging onto their seats in all races.
Connecticut donors pumped nearly $60 million into Democrat candidates and PACs, while only $30 million went toward Republicans. In total, Connecticut political donors poured $165 million into campaigns, candidates, and PACs during the 2024 federal election. Most of that money – roughly $70 million – came out of Greenwich, followed by Westport with $7.6 million.
In the presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris saw the most donations from Connecticut by far, totaling $17 million, compared to $3.5 million to President Donald Trump, who appears to have won re-election.
While most of the political money flowing from Connecticut went toward Democrats, the top donor from Connecticut was America First – affiliated with America First Action, a SuperPAC that supports Donald Trump and is chaired by Linda McMahon, co-founder of the WWE who unsuccessfully ran for senate in 2010 and 2012. America First poured $16.3 million into Republican campaigns and PACs during the 2024 election cycle.
The other major donations from Connecticut largely came from individuals associated with investment firms like Lone Pine Capital, founded by Connecticut billionaire Stephen Mandel, Jr. Donors associated with or employed by the firm gave $14.4 million in donations, almost entirely to Democrat campaigns and organizations. Mandel and his wife, Susan, have also put hundreds of thousands into a Connecticut absentee ballot referendum question, and another $1.5 million into Impact CT, an independent expenditure organization supporting Connecticut Democrats.
Individuals associated with or employed by private equity firm Bluff Point Associates and Old Lyme-based Hamilton Point Investments contributed $2.8 million and $2.6 million respectively, mostly toward Republican candidates and organizations. Employees of Charter Communications rounded out the top five largest donors during the 2024 election cycle with $1.7 million spread across both parties.
Connecticut’s well-known securities and investment industry, largely based in Fairfield County, was responsible for the most political donations with $34.1 million, followed by Connecticut retirees, who donated $23 million.
All five members of Connecticut’s House delegation were running for reelection this year, along with Sen. Chris Murphy, and fundraising for the races was only close in the 5th district – a rematch between Republican candidate George Logan and Rep. Jahana Hayes which Hayes won in 2022 by a very small margin. Hayes received $3.8 million in donations, compared to Logan’s $2.5 million, and increased her margin of victory this year.
The only other congressional race in which the Republican challenger raised any significant funds was former state representative Mike France in his race against incumbent Joe Courtney. France raised $627,000 compared to Courtney’s $1.1 million. Murphy raised a war chest of more than $14 million compared to Republican challenger Matthew Corey, who raised nearly $200,000. Both Courtney and Murphy won their respective races.
Fairfield County, which includes Greenwich, accounted for the most political donations geographically with $113 million – nearly 60 percent of which went toward Democrats, as the political makeup of Connecticut’s gold coast has shifted over the past two decades.
New Haven County accounted for $18.5 million, followed by Hartford County with $14.7 million. Only New London County saw more donations toward Republican candidates and PACs than Democrats by a six-point margin, according to Open Secrets.
Left-over campaign committee funds are often funneled toward national, state, or local political parties, held for future campaigns, or used to create a new PAC, essentially creating a positive feedback loop for victorious campaigns that have leftover funds. Unused PAC money is often returned to donors.
**Editors note: This article was corrected to properly indicate that donations were made by individuals associated with or employed by the listed firms and businesses, and not by the organizations themselves**
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Fact check – our firm, Hamilton Point Investments, has never given a dime to anything political. J. David Kelsey
The story doesn’t say your company did. It states:
Individuals associated with or employed by private equity firm Bluff Point Associates and Old Lyme-based Hamilton Point Investments contributed $2.8 million and $2.6 million respectively, mostly toward Republican candidates and organizations.
Good evening Mr. Fredsall. Thank you for reading Inside Investigator. You are both correct. Mr. Kelsey’s comment properly clarifies the original text of the article, which incorrectly stated that his company gave money.
In response to his comment, we updated the article with a correction and issued the editor’s note included at the end which reads: “**Editors note: This article was corrected to properly indicate that donations were made by individuals associated with or employed by the listed firms and businesses, and not by the organizations themselves**”
We relied on the information provided by Open Secrets and have apologized for improperly characterizing the data they presented. You can see the information linked in the first paragraph under the “Donors” tab. Thank you for your understanding and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any additional questions.
Yeah right! Democrats represent the little people.