Meet the wealthy donors who are trying to influence the Pennsylvania Senate race

Pennsylvania’s competitive Senate race has attracted nearly $300 million in spending so far, but only a slice of that has come from the candidates themselves.

Super PACs that can and do accept donations of five, six and seven figures are overshadowing U.S. Sen. Bob Casey and Republican challenger Dave McCormick in the money game. And it’s through these committees, which have no contribution caps, that ultra-wealthy donors from around the U.S. are using their financial heft to try to influence the Pennsylvania outcome and the partisan composition of the narrowly divided Senate.

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Outside groups have collectively spent about $210 million on the Senate race in Pennsylvania to date, either to support a candidate or to attack one of them, according to OpenSecrets, a group that tracks money in politics.

By comparison, Casey, a three-term Democrat, has shelled out about $51 million in his re-election hunt, and McCormick’s campaign has spent roughly $25 million, financial disclosures show.

Both Casey and McCormick draw support from super PACs, most of which direct money into a variety of races across the nation. One in particular, called Keystone Renewal, stands out because it’s laser-focused on aiding McCormick, former CEO of a software company and later of a hedge fund.

More than $35 million has flowed into the PAC this year from fewer than 100 individuals and organizations, the disclosures show. And some of the GOP’s biggest Wall Street backers appear on its donor list.

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Who are the billionaires fueling Dave McCormick’s bid?

A big supporter last year was Paul Singer, a hedge fund manager and chairman of the Manhattan Institute, an influential conservative-leaning think tank. Singer donated $2 million to Keystone Renewal last year.

The top individual contributors to the pro-McCormick super PAC this year:

Ken Griffin, a Miami-based hedge fund CEO. Griffin has given $5 million to the PAC in recent months, on top of the $10 million he supplied last year. American Patriots PAC, a group primarily funded by Griffin and Singer, donated another $1 million to the pro-McCormick committee.The head of Citadel has stepped forward as one of the top GOP donors in the U.S., with an interest in influencing policy around public safety and schools.Though he has poured tens of millions into Senate and House races this election cycle, he has largely stayed out of the presidential general election contest, telling POLITICO he believes it’s time the Republican Party moves on from former President Donald Trump.

Thomas Peterffy, the Hungarian-born founder of an electronic broker. Peterffy, who lives in Palm Beach, has contributed $3 million to the PAC this year and spent $300,000 last year.The billionaire creator of Interactive Brokers, a multinational firm, left his home in socialist Hungary for America in his early 20s — and has expressed concern about a slide toward socialism in the U.S.

Antonio Gracias, founder of Chicago-based Valor Equity Partners. Gracias, who Forbes estimates is a billionaire, has poured $4 million into the PAC this year between a direct contribution and one from his trust.Gracias has been a faithful business backer of Elon Musk and more recently has become a political ally, supplying $1 million toward the world’s wealthiest person's fight to get Trump re-elected.

Elizabeth Uihlein, president of a Wisconsin shipping supply company. Uihlein and her husband, Richard, are billionaires who have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to conservative candidates and causes over the past decade, sometimes at cross purposes. While Richard Uihlein has backed candidates who buck party orthodoxy, Elizabeth Uihlein tends to support people who fall in line with the GOP establishment, according to POLITICO. She has contributed $1.5 million to Keystone Renewal this year, and her husband has chipped in $500,000.

Jeffrey Yass, Pennsylvania’s wealthiest man. Yass, a vocal advocate of school voucher programs, is one of the only PAC contributors from the commonwealth. He donated $1 million last year and $1.25 million this year, most of which has come in the waning weeks of the campaign, financial disclosures show.

Yass is the second-biggest political donor in the nation for the 2024 election cycle, spending nearly $80 million in support of GOP candidates, according to OpenSecrets.

Jan Koum, co-founder of WhatsApp. Koum, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine as a teenager, has contributed more than $1.5 million to Keystone Renewal this year.

He was also a benefactor of Nikki Haley's candidacy in the GOP presidential primary and is a major funder of a pro-Israel PAC that is working against candidates deemed not supportive enough of Israel.

Steve Wynn, former casino mogul. Wynn, who stepped away from his gambling empire after a sexual harassment investigation, has donated $1 million to Keystone Renewal this year.

Though Wynn has denied wrongdoing, the Republican National Committee vowed to return his donations if the accusations were substantiated. Since then, he has paid tens of millions of dollars in settlements related to the cases, although he has not been found guilty. Republicans have continued to accept political contributions from him.

Charles Johnson, billionaire owner of the San Francisco Giants. Johnson is the former head of Franklin Templeton Investments, a global investment firm. He has given $1 million to the pro-McCormick PAC this year.

Johnson's political donations, including to a Mississippi senator who quipped about being willing to attend a "public hanging" and to a group that tries to keep critical race theory out of schools, have ruffled feathers and led to calls for boycotts of his baseball team.

Stephen Schwarzman, head of Blackstone Inc., a New York City private equity and real estate firm. Schwarzman, who grew up outside Philadelphia, has fought to get Republicans elected this cycle in House and Senate seats across the nation, targeting races in Montana, Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania. He has directed $1 million into the pro-McCormick PAC so far in 2024 and donated $500,000 last year. Schwarzman has blown hot and cold on Trump, whom he grew to know in New York’s real estate business circles and advised informally during the former president’s first term. He initially refrained from backing the former president in 2024 but later endorsed him after citing concerns about the rise of antisemitism.

Marjorie Buckley, wife of the late Walter Buckley, a Pennsylvania businessman and Bethlehem Steel pension fund manager. Buckley, who now reports living in Palm Beach, Florida, gave $1 million to the Keystone Renewal PAC.

McCormick’s candidacy is also getting a huge boost from the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Sen. Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s top Republican. The PAC has spent more than $40 million to oust Casey, according to OpenSecrets.

Which super PACs are spending big to re-elect Sen. Bob Casey?

A committee affiliated with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has donated through another PAC to plow more than $52 million into the race to back Casey and defeat McCormick, according to OpenSecrets.

The Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC rakes in money from billionaires such as Stephen Mandel, a Connecticut hedge fund manager, and Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix. Both men are among the biggest Democratic megadonors in this election cycle, according to a Washington Post analysis.

But one of the PAC’s biggest benefactors is a 501(c)(4) called Majority Forward, a nonprofit that is not required to disclose its donors and is often referred to as a dark money group since its source of funds is untraceable.

Casey is also receiving support from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has supported him with more than $10 million.

Bethany Rodgers is a USA TODAY Network Pennsylvania capital bureau investigative journalist.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Who are the billionaires spending big in the Pa Senate race?