“ Y O U ’ R E H I R E D ! ” B U S I N E S S I C O N D O N A L D T R U M P I N V E S T S I N L A W M A K E R S By M A R K D I X O N T H E I N S T I T U T E O N M O N E Y I N S T A T E P O L I T I C S JUNE 3, 2004 833 NORTH MAIN, SECOND FLOOR • HELENA, MT • 59601 PHONE 406-449-2480 • FAX 406-457-2091 • E-MAIL [email protected] www.followthemoney.org Flamboyant businessman Donald J. Trump has built an empire with varied real estate, casino and resort holdings. The Trump organization’s real estate holdings are most extensive in New York City, but include casinos, hotels and resorts in Atlantic City, Palm Beach, Chicago and Los Angeles, as well. Trump, a New York native and graduate of the Wharton School of Finance, is also chairman of the Donald J. Trump Foundation. His foundation gives annually to a variety of charitable and nonprofit organizations. Trump recently branched out into reality television and published another book, raising the profile of the Trump organization even further in the media spotlight. However, this rise to power was not made by business savvy alone. The Institute on Money in State Politics database shows that Trump has also made steady and strategic investments in lawmakers, candidates and political parties over the years. State-level campaign-finance data from the early 1990s through 2002, searchable on the Institute's Web site at www.followthemoney.org, shows that ‘The Donald’ has personally given $286,515 to state lawmakers and political parties since 1990. In addition, Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts gave $198,500 in campaign contributions since 1998. These Trump contributions, totaling $485,015, benefited both Democrats and Republicans in several states. The bulk of this giving occurred in the 1998 and 2002 election cycles, with many individual contributions of more than $20,000. The tables below summarize the contributions given to each recipient. C O N T R I B U T I O N S F R O M D O N A L D J . T R U M P S T A T E Y E A R R E C I P I E N T O F F I C E S T A T U S T O T A L FL 2000/2002 Sharon J. Merchant Senate 27 Lost $1,000 FL 2002 Jeff Atwater Senate 25 Won $500 FL 2002 Jeb Bush Governor Won $500 HI 1998 Benjamin Cayetano Governor Won $1,000 IL 2002 Rod R. Blagojevich Governor Won $5,000 IL 1998 George H. Ryan Governor Won $5,000 MD 2002 Kathleen Kennedy Townsend Governor Lost $3,000 NV 1990 Bob Miller Governor Won $10,000 NY 1998/2000 George E Pataki Governor Won $43,500 NY 1998 H. Carl McCall Comptroller Won $28,000 NY 1998 Dennis C. Vacco Attorney General Lost $27,965 NY 2000/2002 Daniel Hevesi Senate 13 Won $27,500 Democratic Assembly Campaign NY 1998 Committee of New York Party Committee $25,000 New York Senate Republican NY 1998-2002 Campaign Committee Party Committee $16,000 NY 2002 Eliot L. Spitzer Attorney General Won $11,000 NY 2000/2002 Joseph L. Bruno Senate 43 Won $6,500 NY 1998 Betsy McCaughey Ross Governor Lost $6,300 NY 2002 Andrew Cuomo Governor Withdrew $6,000 NY 1998/2002 New York State Democratic Party Party Committee $6,000 NY 1998 Peter F. Vallone Governor Lost $5,000 NY 1998-2002 Nick Spano Senate 35 Won $4,050 New York State NY 1998/2002 Republican Party Party Committee $2,500 District NY 2002 Nicholas Colabella Supreme Court DNR $2,500 NY 1998-2002 Brian M. McLaughlin Assembly 25 Won $2,400 The Institute on Money in State Politics 2004 2 S T A T E Y E A R R E C I P I E N T O F F I C E S T A T U S T O T A L NY 1998/2002 Roy M. Goodman Senate 26 Won/DNR $2,000 NY 2002 John A. Ravitz Senate 26 DNR $2,000 NY 2000 Michael J. Bragman Assembly 118 Won $1,675 NY 2000/2002 Alexander J. Gromack Assembly Won $1,400 NY 2002 Martin Connor Senate 25 Won $1,200 NY 2002 David Cornstein Comptroller Withdrew $1,000 NY 2002 Andrew S. Eristoff Senate 26 Lost $1,000 NY 2002 John Faso Comptroller Lost $1,000 Democratic Senate Campaign NY 2002 Committee of New York Party Committee $600 NY 1998 Serphin R. Maltese Senate 15 Won $500 Republican Assembly Campaign NY 2000 Committee of New York Party Committee $250 NY 2002 Malcom A. Smith Senate 14 Won $250 NY 1998 Carl Kruger Senate 21 Won $200 NY 1998 Michael J. Spano Assembly 87 Won $125 NY 2002 Adam Clayton Powell Assembly Won $100 PA 2002 Ed Rendell Governor Won $27,000 T O T A L C O N T R I B U T I O N S $ 2 8 6 , 5 1 5 C O N T R I B U T I O N S B Y T R U M P H O T E L S & C A S I N O R E S O R T S S T A T E Y E A R R E C I P I E N T O F F I C E S T A T U S T O T A L NV 1998 Kenny Guinn - Governor Governor Won $3,500 FL 1998 Republican Party of Florida Party Committee $50,000 Democratic Senate Campaign NY 1998 Committee of New York Party Committee $100,000 Democratic Senate Campaign NY 2000 Committtee of New York Party Committee $25,000 New York Senate Republican NY 2002 Campaign Committee Party Committee $10,000 NY 2000 Michael A. L. Balboni Senate 7 Won $5,000 Democratic Assembly NY 2000 Campaign Committee Party Committee $5,000 T O T A L C O N T R I B U T I O N S $ 1 9 8 , 5 0 0 Of the $485,015 Trump and his businesses gave at the state level, $240,350 went to political party committees. Sixty-seven percent went to Democratic committees, and the remainder went to Republican committees. Candidates received $244,665 of the Trump money, and about 60 percent of those funds went to candidates who won their elections. Of the candidate contributions, 53 percent went to Democrats, 44 percent went to Republicans, and $6,300 went to a Liberal Party candidate who ran for governor of New York in 1998. The Institute on Money in State Politics 2004 3.