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Meet the billionaires backing Republican Dave McCormick’s U.S. Senate run

Deep-pocketed Wall Street donors have lined up to donate to a super PAC backing the Republican Senate candidate

Matt Rourke / Associated Press

By Ryan W. Briggs and Sean Collins Walsh

Published Oct 31, 2024

Insurgent candidates frequently struggle to raise money against entrenched incumbents who already control the levers of power.

But Republican Dave McCormick, who is challenging three-term Democratic incumbent Bob Casey in Pennsylvania’s nationally watched U.S. Senate race, is not your average political newcomer.

A former CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund and a U.S. Treasury official in the George W. Bush administration, McCormick entered the race with a Rolodex of friends and supporters who are among the richest people on Earth. Many of them have stepped up by pouring millions into a super PAC backing the Republican.

Keystone Renewal PAC is the only major super PAC solely dedicated to Pennsylvania’s Senate race. A vast majority of the rest of the spending has come from the candidates’ campaigns or their parties’ Senate leadership funds.

The PAC has spent about $52 million, with three-quarters of its advertising dedicated to attacking Casey and a quarter to boosting McCormick, according to Open Secrets, the government transparency nonprofit.

A Keystone Renewal spokesperson said the PAC is “committed to educating the American public on Bob Casey's radical policy record that is responsible for the record-high inflation and open borders.”

“Dave McCormick is the only candidate that will fix what Bob Casey has done during his tenure in office, and deliver safety and prosperity,” the spokesperson said in a written statement.

At a Tuesday event in Allentown, Casey countered that McCormick was being propped up by “out-of-state billionaires coming into Pennsylvania to lecture us about who's going to be our senator, to lecture us about rights.”

More than $289 million has been spent on the race, and a majority of both candidates’ financial support comes from outside Pennsylvania, which is common in modern Senate contests. McCormick, however, has a greater share of donors from elsewhere.

Both candidates have raised millions through their campaigns and are also benefiting from heavy spending by their respective parties’ leadership. Senate Democrats’ super PAC, for instance, has spent $53 million to help Casey, according to Open Secrets, and it raises money from super-wealthy donors across the country, including some who donated anonymously through a “dark money” nonprofit.

Notably, Keystone Renewal has disclosed almost all of its individual donors and is not structured as a dark money organization.

In addition to members of the Perot, DeVos, and Pritzker families, here are some of the notable donors backing Keystone Renewal PAC:

Donated $15,000,000

Ken C. Griffin

The Harvard-educated billionaire owner of Citadel Securities, a financial services company, was a prominent supporter of Republican Nikki Haley’s insurgent primary bid against Donald Trump. Both Griffin and fellow billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman (more on the Blackstone CEO later) hosted early fundraisers for McCormick’s failed 2022 Senate primary bid. This year, Griffin became the largest individual donor to Keystone Renewal.

“I proudly support leaders like David McCormick, who have a proven record of service and commitment to our country,” Griffin said on Wednesday. “We need leaders in Washington who are committed to securing our borders, stopping inflation, and ensuring a strong national defense."

Donated $3,300,000

Thomas Peterffy

Thomas Peterffy, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Interactive Brokers.

Associated Press

The Hungarian-born CEO of Interactive Brokers, a Wall Street brokerage firm, owns a mansion along Palm Beach’s “Billionaire’s Row,” near Mar-a-Lago, along with other McCormick donors like Steve Wynn. After offering tepid support in 2020, Peterffy has joined other billionaires in aggressively backing Trump this year, and even used his company to dive into the political betting craze to speculate on the outcome of the election. In 2022, Peterffy supported Mehmet Oz, who beat McCormick in the GOP primary. But this cycle he’s all in for McCormick.

“I think the battle over free enterprise versus a socialist nanny state is going to be decided in Pennsylvania over the next several years,” Peterffy said in an interview. “I like David McCormick. … I know him quite well. He’s been fantastic as a soldier, as an officer, and as a private enterprise person.”

Donated $3,000,000

Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein

A Uline delivery truck

JHVEPhoto

This Wisconsin couple cofounded industrial packing supply company Uline, whose success made both into billionaires. An heir to the Schlitz beer fortune, Richard Uihlein is a reclusive but prolific conservative donor – but has historically favored conservatives disruptors, from Pat Buchannon to the Tea Party movement. Elizabeth is a onetime Clinton voter who later embraced traditional economic conservatism. The middle ground: Dave McCormick.

Donated $2,250,000

Jeffrey Yass

Jeff Yass

Courtesy of the Yass Foundation for Education

As Pennsylvania’s richest man, the Montgomery County-based cofounder of the investment firm Susquehanna International Group has long used his fortune to promote conservative and libertarian goals, particularly private school voucher programs. This year, he has spent millions to support Pennsylvania Republicans through donations to a PAC called the Commonwealth Leaders Fund. He has separately donated to Keystone Renewal to support McCormick.

“I support candidates, such as Dave McCormick, who support school choice,” Yass said in a statement. Casey’s policies, he said, lead to “lower income children trapped in failing, public schools.”

Donated $2,000,000

Paul Singer

FILE - In this May 12, 2014, file photo, Paul Singer, founder and CEO of hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation, speaks at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner in New York. Prominent athenahealth investor Elliott Management Corp. is offering about $6.5 billion to take the medical billing software maker private after saying it has grown frustrated with the company's performance. Shares of athenahealth soared early Monday, May 7, 2018, after the shareholder outlined its proposal. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

Associated Press

The New Jersey-born founder of Elliott Investment Management earned an immense fortune – and scorn – investing in distressed debt, notably buying up sovereign obligations from nations teetering on financial collapse The self-described libertarian has advanced varied causes, both advocating for government deregulation and promoting gay marriage. Singer initially supported Marco Rubio in the 2016 presidential campaign, only later warming to Trump. He has historically been one of the largest donors to Republican Senate campaigns, and individuals linked to Elliott Management made up the second-largest pool of donors to McCormick’s 2022 campaign, after Goldman Sachs.

Donated $2,000,000

Antonio Gracias

In this sketch former Tesla board member Antonio Gracias testifies in a courtroom in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022.

Elizabeth Williams via AP

Gracias is the founder of Valor Equity Partners, a $16 billion private equity firm. He is a confidant of Tesla owner Elon Musk, and earned much of his wealth from stock options in the electric car manufacturer, where he worked until 2021. Forbes values his net worth at $1.3 billion. He has donated to Keystone Renewal through a trust.

Donated $1,500,000

Jan Koum

Billionaire Jan Koum

Associated Press

Koum is a Ukranian American billionaire and former CEO of WhatsApp – a popular messaging program widely used internationally – and a fixture in Silicon Valley. Ethnically Jewish, Koum has donated extensively both to Ukranian wartime aid and pro-Israel groups. A major Haley backer, he has more recently donated to Keystone Renewal through an LLC.

Donated $1,500,000

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Stephen A. Schwarzman CEO Blackstone speaks during the session 'Shaping a New Market Architecture' at annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Associated Press

The CEO of the Blackstone Group, a trillion-dollar global private equity firm, is associated through his company with aggressive buyouts of everything from the Hilton hotel chain to railroads and grocery stores. But he is also a Philadelphia-area native and a longtime donor to Republican causes – and among the most prominent Wall Street supporters of Trump’s latest presidential campaign. One of McCormick’s early political supporters, along with Griffin, Schwarzman is back this year. He is also pumping millions into the U.S. Senate candidacy of Republican Tim Sheehy in Montana.

Donated $1,000,000

Howard Lutnick

Howard Lutnick speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Associated Press

A Haverford College graduate who rose to the top of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, Lutnick stayed under the radar politically in 2016, but began hosting fundraisers for Trump in 2019. He has since been featured as an outspoken Trump surrogate, cochairing his transition team and even speaking at the recent Madison Square Garden rally.

Donated $1,000,000

Stephen Wynn

Stephen Wynn arrives at the State Department for the Kennedy Center Honors State Department Dinner on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

Associated Press

The founder of Wynn Resorts in 2018 stepped down as CEO of his eponymous hotel and casino empire amid sexual misconduct allegations that he has denied. Nonetheless, his donations continue to be welcomed by Republican political campaigns, and he served as a vice chairman of Trump's inauguration committee after the 2016 election and was a major donor in 2020.

The Inquirer attempted to contact all individual donors listed in this article and included comment from those who responded.

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