S ure, there’s a race for U.S. Senate and governor this year, but New Yorkers have too many opinions—and too much money—to work merely to elect their local representatives. New York has sent more money—$13,201,423—to out-of-state candidates since January 1, 2009, than any other city in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. To whom, exactly, have New Yorkers been giving?
1. Ron Wyden
Two-term Oregon Democratic senator and universal-health-care proponent.
$263,614
Donors:
• Fred Bass, co-owner of the Strand Book Store and Wyden’s father-in-law.
• Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Sleepers. A friend of Wyden’s wife who plays poker with Bass and admired the senator’s health-care plan.
2. Blanche Lincoln
Two-term Democratic senator from Arkansas; faces primary runoff in June.
$154,400
Donors:
• Richard Parsons, former Time Warner CEO and chief of Citigroup.
• Edgar J. Bronfman, chairman/CEO of Warner Music Group.
• $7,000 from employees of Blue Mountain Capital, which trades in derivatives. Lincoln wants to shut down the Hollywood Stock Exchange, favored by movie studios like Warner Bros., and favors strict restrictions on derivatives.
3. Michael Bennet
Democratic Colorado senator. Faces tough primary election in August. Brother is Atlantic editor James Bennet.
$616,686
Donors:
• Craig Hatkoff, co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival.
• Jeffrey Wright, actor and Tribeca Film Institute board member. Bennet worked with a company that had investments in film distribution, including Regal Entertainment, which co-sponsored the first festival in 2002.
• Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America. Bennet is a former Denver schools superintendent.
• Jonathan Soros, of Soros Fund Management (George’s son), was an undergrad with Bennet at Wesleyan.
4. John Chachas
Republican running for Harry Reid’s Nevada Senate seat in November. Has family roots in Nevada; currently runs the Lazard investment bank’s media practice.
$245,165
Donors:
• Harvey Weinstein; $13,600 from employees of Lazard. Weinstein attended dinners hosted by Chachas’s former Lazard colleague Steve Rattner.
5. Joseph A. Sestak Jr.
First-term Pennsylvania congressman; beat Arlen Specter in the Democratic Senate primary.
$158,700
Donors:
• Susan Patricof, big Dem donor and wife of private-equity big-shot Alan Patricof.
• Gail Furman, a child psychologist and the mother of Obama campaign adviser Jason Furman.
• Douglas Band, longtime Bill Clinton aide.
6. Rob Portman
Former Ohio Republican congressman running for Senate this fall; has received money from the Senate Victory Fund, which seeks to link Wall Streeters with financial-regulation opponents.
$247,217
Donors:
• Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan CEO.
• $7,966 from employees of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
7. Arlen Specter
Ex-GOP senator from Pennsylvania, defeated last week in Democratic primary.
$427,448
Donors:
• John Catsimatidis, owner of Gristedes and United Refining Company, which operates in Pennsylvania.
• Ronald Perelman, whose parents are longtime Philadelphia philanthropists.
• Bob Kerrey, president of the New School and former senator. Supported Specter’s Fair Elections Now Act.
• $16,700 from health-care-industry employees. Specter brags of helping “health-care providers receive fair reimbursement” from government programs.
8. Charlie Crist
Republican governor of Florida; recently turned independent to run for Senate.
$216,705
Donors:
• Donald Trump, who has real-estate holdings in Florida.
• John Catsimatidis, who has real-estate holdings in Florida.
• Ronald Perelman, whose family has real-estate holdings in Florida.
9. Mark Kirk
Republican Illinois congressman running for Senate in November.
$413,789
Donors:
• Ed Cox, chairman of the New York State Republican party.
• Jamie Dimon.
• $24,000 from employees of Elliott Management, a hedge fund that has contributed heavily to anti-regulation candidates.
10. Richard Blumenthal
Democratic Connecticut attorney general running to fill Senator Christopher Dodd’s Connecticut seat.
$245,299
Donors:
• $12,400 from employees of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, a law firm founded by the Justice Department’s attorney on the Microsoft antitrust case, David Boies; Connecticut joined the Fed’s suit under Blumenthal’s direction.
• $8,699 from employees of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, where Boies worked before co-founding his own firm.