Billionaires spent heavily on the 2012 election, but 11 of the 12 candidates they backed lost.
Casino owner Sheldon Adelson, who gave more money to super PACs than any other contributor ($53.7 million), supported at least eight candidates, all of whom were defeated. The losers included Mitt Romney and Republican U.S. Senate candidates in Florida, Virginia and New Jersey. During the Republican primary season, Adelson contributed $16.5 million to Newt Gingrich’s losing campaign.
Other conservative billionaires who lost on Election Night were Contran Corp. CEO Harold Simmons, homebuilder Bob Perry and TD Ameritrade founder Joe Ricketts. These three gave $13.4 million to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future super PAC, while Ricketts’ poured in another $9.9 million through his super PAC, Ending Spending Action Fund.
One billionaire who won out was Newsweb Corp. CEO Fred Eychaner, who contributed $3.5 million to the pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action.
In the end, spending by super PACs and other outside groups did not have as much influence as many observers feared, wrote Dan Eggen and T.W. Farnam in The Washington Post, characterizing the largesse as “the dog that barked but did not bite.”
In several cases, the big three gave money to the same candidates, so here are their final individual records:
Sheldon Adelson: 0 wins; 8 losses
Harold Simmons: 1 win (Orrin Hatch of Utah); 6 losses
Bob Perry: 0 wins; 5 losses
