George Soros and his son Alex donated more than $400,000 to the Democratic National Committee during the 2018 midterms. They gave more than $1 million during the 2022 midterm election cycle, campaign finance records show.
This year, they have yet to give the DNC a dollar.
The Soroses aren’t alone—other high-profile donors have given little or no money to the Democrats’ central committee this year. Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, wrote steady checks to the DNC for years but during the midterms has yet to give money.
In a sign of the party’s challenges, a running joke among some donors is that the DNC stands for “Do Not Contribute,” said one Democratic strategist who advises major party donors.
Months ahead of pivotal midterm elections, the Democratic fundraising apparatus has a big donor problem.
While many Democratic elites still feel bullish about taking back the House and are willing to throw big money at their favorite candidates, institutional fatigue—and in some cases, full-on drama—have set in among a number of the party’s biggest donors. Like voters, donors say they feel disillusioned with Washington and the party establishment they have long supported.
The DNC isn’t the only problem spot for Democrats—other Democratic committees and super PACs lag behind Republicans across the board. It is common for a party that is out of power in Washington to struggle, but Democrats are increasingly concerned it will hurt their chances of winning this fall as Republicans stack up significantly more money in committees and PACs that can organize door-knocking efforts and air TV ads.
Some of the problem is the lingering frustration among major donors over how their money was spent in the 2024 presidential election, when nominee Kamala Harris quickly raised more than $1 billion but still lost after a rushed process to nominate her. Others point to the painful divisions in the Democratic Party’s donor base over the war in Gaza, antisemitism in the U.S. and an insurgent group of Democratic socialists….
