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Who's Giving to Whom: Mayor Pete May End Up Winning Latest Race for Showbiz Campaign Cash

Showbiz Democrats love Pete Buttigieg, and the most recent fundraising numbers show it.


In fact, when data is compiled later this month, it may show that he came out on top --- or very close to it --- when it comes to raising money from the entertainment industry for the most recent quarter.


During the quarter that ended on June 30, Buttigieg drew contributions from a wide array of actors, singers, directors, writers and moguls. His list includes Michael J. Fox, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Bacon, John Stamos, Frances McDormand, George Takei, Cherry Jones, Ed Helms, Spike Jonze, Tony Goldwyn and Dana Delany. Political stalwarts like Barbra Streisand, David Geffen, Rob Reiner, Stephen Bing and Jeffrey Katzenberg also contributed, and his pace of fundraising looks to continue on July 25 when he does another fundraising swing though town with one event cohosted by Ellen DeGeneres, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes.


Buttigieg has done something that usually takes politicians months or even years to do: He's built a network of entertainment industry donors, no easy task in a community that values personal relationships. The two other candidates who have been most avid in courting showbiz donors, Kamala Harris and Joseph Biden, also are drawing long lists of boldfaced names, and we'll soon see how Buttigieg stacks up against them. The Center for Responsive Politics combs through all contributions and does a breakdown of contributions from specific industries.


But as I have written about before, donors are still spreading their money around and aren't ready to commit to one candidate. Case in point: Katzenberg, who has donated to at least a dozen presidential candidates, and has cohosted a number of events for them as well. This seems to be relatively common, as a number of bundlers say that they want to get a clearer picture of who they think will be best to go up against President Trump. Buttigieg led all candidates in fundraising from donors across all industries, with a $24.1 million haul, but in polls he has not yet broken through to the upper tier of Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.


Here's a snapshot of who's giving to whom, with the caveat that the list will be updated as more data is downloaded. During the first quarter, Harris led all candidates in raising showbiz money, drawing a long list of donors including Shonda Rhimes, Ben Affleck, George Lucas and Quincy Jones. But those names are not included on this list, which is of fundraising in the second quarter, which ended on June 30.


Pete Buttigieg


Actors and performers: Sean Hayes, Mary Steenburgen, Ed Helms, Matt Bomer, Kevin Bacon, Jane Lynch, Sharon Stone, Frances McDormand, Jennifer Aniston, Barbra Streisand, Meredith Baxter, Chaz Bono, Sophia Bush, Ted Danson, Dana Delany, James Denton, Michael J. Fox, Tony Goldwyn, Melora Hardin, Cherry Jones, Matt Lillard, Andrew Rannells, John Stamos, Nancy Stephens, George Takei, Anthony Zerbe, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Michael Stipe, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Tig Notaro, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachael Ray, Barry Karas, Alyssa Milano.


Directors, writers and producers: Rob Reiner, Greg Berlanti, Tom Ford, Jonathan Murray, Max Mutchnick, Amy Pascal, Carol Bayer Sager, Thomas Lennon, Ryan Murphy, Paul Attanasio, Laurie David, Michael Huffington, Dan Jinks, Spike Jonze, Barry Josephson, Bill Pohlad, Scott Stuber, Doug Liman, Brian Graden, Rory Kennedy, John Goldwyn, James Mangold, Dana Calvo, Howard Cohen, Steve Tisch, Damon Lindelof, Jeffrey Soros.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Reed Hastings, Jeremy Zimmer, Robert Offer, Richard Lovett, Ken Solomon, Bryan Lourd, Kevin MacLellan, James Costos, Gary Ginsburg, Thomas Schumacher, Richard Foos, David Geffen, Stephen Bing, Jeffrey Katzenberg.


Joseph Biden


Actors and performers: Tate Donovan, Tom Hanks, George Takei, Rita Wilson, Kaitlin Olson, Marsha Mason, Jessica Harper, Heather Thomas.


Directors, writers and producers: Rob Reiner, Bradley Bell, Colleen Bell, Sean Daniel, Seth Grahame-Smith, Ken Ehrlich, David Garfinkle, Carl Beverly, Michael Patrick King, David Kissinger, David Lee, Carol Mendelsohn, Martin Schafer, George Shapiro, Dana Calvo, Matthew George, Shonda Rhimes, Mike Lombardo, Michelle Manning.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chris Meledandri, Chris Silbermann, Alan Horn, David L. Cohen, Ruth Vitale, Chip Smith, Stacey Snider, Tom Rothman, Joe Waz.


Kamala Harris


Actors and performers: Bill Bellamy, Rosemarie DeWitt, Michael Douglas, Jennifer Garner, Don Cheadle, Wendell Pierce, Leslie Odom Jr., Sean Penn.


Directors, writers and producers: Amy Baer, Beau Flynn, Paige Tolmach, James L. Brooks, Ted Hope, Jordan Kerner, Ryan Murphy, Mike Deluca, Jonathan King, Amy Ziering, Rachael Horovitz, Troy Carter.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Alan Horn, Jeffrey Katzenberg.


Elizabeth Warren


Actors and performers: Scarlett Johansson, Ashley Judd, Bette Midler, Rosie O'Donnell, Paul Appleby, Jade Harlow, John Hodgman. Isaac Lamb, Cleo King.


Directors, writers and producers: Damon Lindelof, Thomas Lennon.


Cory Booker


Actors and performers: Bradley Whitford, Ben Affleck, Alicia Silverstone.


Directors, writers and producers: Joe Roth, Nicole Avant, David Lee, Mark Johnson, Jeffrey Silver, Shonda Rhimes, Billy Ray.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Alan Horn.


Kirsten Gillibrand


Actors and performers: William Hurt, Sophia Bush.


Directors, writers and producers: Amy Baer, Amy Ziering, Damon Lindelof.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Alan Horn.


Michael Bennet


Actors and performers: Jessica Harper.


Directors, writers and producers: Marshall Herskovitz, Thomas Lennon, Matt Tolmach, Dede Gardner, Shawn Ryan, Martin Schafer.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Jeff Shell, Irving Azoff, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chris Meledandri.


Amy Klobuchar


Directors, writers and producers: Colleen Bell, Bill Pohlad, Thomas Lennon.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Jeffrey Katzenberg.



Bernie Sanders


Actors and performers: Danny Devito.


Directors, writers and producers: Adam McKay.



Beto O'Rourke


Actors and performers: Cecily Strong, Ned Van Zandt.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Jeffrey Katzenberg.



Jay Inslee


Actors and performers: Jane Fonda


Directors, writers and producers: Adam McKay, Bill Prady, Michael Schur, Robert Singer.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Jeffrey Katzenberg


Julian Castro


Directors, writers and producers: Jan de Bont, Rachael Horovitz.


Moguls, executives, agents and lawyers: Jeffrey Katzenberg.


Marianne Williamson


Actors and performers: Jeff Bridges, Frances Fisher.



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