Campaign finance records show that Byron Donalds, the Trump-endorsed frontrunner in Florida’s Republican Gubernatorial primary, has received an enormous amount of money from billionaires who do not live in Florida.
Billionaire trader Jeff Yass, the political mega-donor who co-founded Susquehanna International Group, is the richest person in Pennsylvania, with a net worth upward of $100 billion. Yass has contributed $7.5 million to Donalds' political committee and is also the largest donor to Club for Growth Action ($29.5 million), which endorsed Donalds before spending over $3 million more backing him through its Club for Growth Action PAC.
Chicago Billionaire Richard Uihlein, a Schlitz Beer heir and shipping-supplies magnate who has also given millions to Club for Growth Action, gave $2 million to Donalds' political committee. Beau Wrigley, heir to the Wrigley chewing gum fortune, who now owns a Parallel, a large cannabis company operating in several states, including Florida, gave $1 million to Donalds' political committee.
These represent the three most generous donors to Friends of Byron Donalds. They are followed by prominent Floridians: Hedge fund manager John Paulson, who owns a $110 million dollar mansion on Palm Beach, gave $1 million to Donalds' political committee. He's followed by Charles Schwab Jr. ($250,000), billionaire shipping magnate Harry Sargeant III ($200k), waste-management and real estate entrepreneur Anthony Lomangino ($100,000), and South Florida auto dealer Craig Zinn ($100k). Two political committees associated with Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez reportedly contributed a combined $1 million to Donalds' campaign. Airbnb also recently funneled $1 million to Donalds.
Donalds has been the U.S. representative for Florida's 19th congressional district (Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel, Bonita Springs, Naples and Marco Island) since 2021. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he attended Florida A&M before earning a BS in finance and marketing from Florida State in 2002. Donalds unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. House in 2012. He served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 to 2020.
Donalds' main competition in the race is from Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and former House Speaker Paul Renner, though each is polling in single digits. With Donalds refusing to participate in debates, Renner, Collins, and James Fishback recently convened for one. Click below to watch the video.
Editor's note: This article originally listed John Paulson as being a New Yorker. It has been corrected to reflect that he has moved to Florida, where he is a full-time resident.
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Lktinsanfran
Deja vu! In the words of The Who, "Meet the new boss, he's the same as the old boss." WE have to stop putting paid politicians in office. Two items: It should be illegal that donors from outside the state are able to make a contributions and there should be a donation cap. Millions of dollars to get a puppet/person elected while families are striving to make ends meet. It's absurd!
Wednesday, July 8 Report this
Charles
— "Donalds' main competition in the race..." fails to indicate the race as for the Republican Primary only and some readers may not understand that his most serious competition is the Jolly campaign for the office. Voters will have a much better choice in the general election in November 2026. Any candidate financed by the cabal who is offered to the voters should be avoided no matter what the party, let's break away from the corruption.
Thursday, July 9 Report this