NATIONAL

Clinton trounces rivals in survey of gay donors
Small group of activists, celebrities contributing early in presidential race

LOU CHIBBARO J
Friday, August 24, 2007

An informal Washington Blade survey of gay and lesbian activists and celebrities who have made contributions to candidates running for president in 2008 shows that Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York received the lion’s share of their money.

Among a sample of 35 gay contributors, including gay movie director Bryan Singer, Clinton received contributions from 18 of them, totaling $50,750.

Coming in a distant second behind Clinton was Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, who received contributions from six of the gay activists or celebrities totaling $10,300.

Republican Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, came in third, with $9,400 from four donors.

The non-scientific survey was conducted by entering the names of 140 prominent gay activist leaders and a dozen gay or lesbian entertainment or business figures into the Federal Election Commission’s database for individual contributors to candidates running for president.

Out of a total sample of 152 potential gay or lesbian donors, FEC records show that only 35 had given money to a presidential candidate running in the 2008 election as of June 30, 2007, the latest date for which the FEC has released campaign finance data.

The FEC records show that all but two or three of the individuals who had not given money to a 2008 presidential candidate had made at least one, if not several, contributions to presidential and congressional candidates in past election years. This finding indicates that gay rights advocates are likely to contribute money routinely to candidates running for public office.

Under federal election laws, individual contributors can give no more than $2,400 to a presidential candidate in the primary election and no more than $2,400 to a presidential contender in the general election. Individual donors may give a maximum $4,600 to a presidential candidate all at once, during the primary campaign, but the candidate is prohibited from spending the second half of the contribution unless or until he or she wins the nomination.

If the candidate doesn’t win his or her party’s nomination for the general election, the candidate is required to return the “general election” portion of the contribution to the donor.

The FEC only keeps records of individuals making contributions of $200 or more to candidates running for federal office, such as president or the U.S. House or Senate, or to federal office-related committees, such as a political party or political action committee, or PAC.

In the Blade survey, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina came in fourth, receiving $9,250 from two contributors. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona came in fifth, with $5,100 from two contributors. McCain was followed by Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connection, a Democrat, who received $4,600 from one donor; Republican Tommy Thompson, the former Secretary of Health in the administration of President George W. Bush, who received $2,300 from one donor; and Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, who received $2,000 from one donor. Thompson has since dropped out of the race.

The sample of gay activists was taken from the ranks of the boards of directors of Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay political group; and the boards of the National Stonewall Democrats and the Log Cabin Republicans, who represent gay Democrats and Republicans respectively.

Other gay activists were chosen for the sample because of their prominent roles in Democratic or Republican causes as well as non-partisan gay rights causes.

Among the gay entertainment industry figures found to have given money to one or more presidential candidate were David Geffen; Barry Diller, the television industry producer and cable TV channel owner; Bruce Cohen, the television and film producer; and Bryan Singer, the Hollywood film director.

One of the surprises of the survey was a contribution made by New York gay Republican activist and real estate developer Donald Capoccia, who served briefly in a Bush administration post on the U.S. Fine Arts Commission. Capoccia gave the maximum allowable contribution of $4,600 to Giuliani, which could be expected, but gave an additional contribution of $2,100 to Obama.

Capoccia could not be reached by press time. FEC records show he has given to a number of Democratic congressional candidates in New York over the years, including gay-supportive Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.).

Gay Republican activist Carl Schmid of Washington, who has given $2,550 to the Giuliani campaign, said most gay Republican activists appear to be lining up behind Giuliani. Schmid noted that Giuliani has the strongest record of support on gay issues among the major GOP presidential contenders.

Diller gave a sole contribution of $2,300 to Obama, and Geffen made separate contributions of $2,300 to Obama, Edwards and Dodd.

A spokesperson for the FEC said contributions made to presidential candidates after June 30 would not become available for public inspection in FEC records until Oct. 15, when the election regulatory agency releases its next batch of campaign finance data.

Rebecca Armendariz contributed to this report.

Gay money in the 2008 race

These prominent gay rights leaders and gay business or entertainment figures have made campaign contributions to the candidates indicated below as of June 30, 2007, the latest date for which the Federal Election Commission has released campaign finance data. All information obtained from FEC records.

*Out of a total of 152 gay activists and business and entertainment industry leaders surveyed, 35 were found to have given money to at least one of the presidential candidates running in 2008. Five of the individuals surveyed gave to more than one candidate, bringing the total number of contributions to the candidates from this sample to 40.

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