Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Eric Schmidt

Senate Republicans’ campaign arm outraised its Democratic counterpart last month for this first time this year, aided by donors including Google Inc. chairman Eric Schmidt.

Schmidt gave $32,300 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in April, helping it outraise the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, $3.56 million to $3.54 million, according to reports the campaign committees filed this week with the Senate public records office.

Schmidt gives to candidates and committees in both parties, a pattern consistent with some executives and companies nurturing political alliances in both parties.

Schmidt has a current estimated net worth of $8.6 billion, making him the 136^th-richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Ivan Seidenberg, a former Verizon Communications Chief Executive Officer, and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Sprecher each gave the maximum $32,400 to the NRSC. Chevron CEO John S. Watson donated $32,300.

The NRSC gave $45,400 to Gabriel Gomez, the Republican nominee for the Senate seat that Democrat John Kerry vacated in February to become secretary of state. That amount is the maximum that a national party committee can give directly to a Senate candidate, though it may spend unlimited sums on so-called independent expenditures.

Gomez faces Democratic Rep. Ed Markey in the June 25 election.

Republicans hold 45 Senate seats and need a net gain of six seats to win a majority.

Original post is Google’s Schmidt Helps NRSC Edge DSCC in April Fundraising by Political Capital.

Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Senator John Kerry in Washington, D.C.

Secretary of State John Kerry left the Senate in February for his current job, though his campaign committee was aiding his former Democratic colleagues as recently as last month.

John Kerry for Senate sent $100,000 in surplus campaign funds to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on March 15, according to a filing the DSCC made last week.

Kerry’s transfer was the single largest donation received last month by the DSCC, which outraised the National Republican Senatorial Committee by $5.2 million to $3.2 million during March.

Current and former members of Congress are permitted to transfer unlimited sums to national party committees, while individual donors are limited to giving $32,400 per calendar year.

The DSCC received that amount last month from some donors including lawyer David Boies; Bernard L. Schwartz, the chairman and chief executive officer of BLS Investments; and Daniel H. Stern, the co-chief executive officer of Reservoir Capital Group LLC and the president of the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

The NRSC received $32,400 each from former Nicholas F. Brady, a former Treasury Secretary, and Harold “Terry” McGraw III, chief executive officer of McGraw-Hill Cos. It got $30,800 from Jim C. Walton, the world’s 10^th-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Republican committee received $21,500 from billionaire Philip Anschutz and $15,000 from J. Willard Marriott Jr., chairman of Marriott International Inc.

Original post is Kerry’s Campaign Cash Helps Senate Democrats Outraise Republicans by Political Capital.

Photograph by Evan Vucci/AP Photo

Former Sen. John Breaux and other Democratic lobbyists were big early donors to their party’s effort to defend its Senate majority in the 2014 elections.

Breaux, a Patton Boggs senior counsel and a Louisiana senator from 1987 to 2005, donated $30,800 last month to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, according to a Federal Election Commission filing this week.

Gerald S.J. Cassidy, the founder and chief executive officer of Cassidy & Associates, also gave $30,800 to the DSCC. Democratic lobbyists Jimmy Ryan, a former adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Heather Podesta, a lawyer and frequent Democratic donor, each gave $32,400.

The Federal Election Commission last month raised the annual limit on what an individual donor can give to a national party committee to $32,400 from $30,800.

The lobbyists’ donations helped the DSCC raise $4.2 million last month compared to $1.5 million for its partisan counterpart, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the filings show.

Home Depot Inc. CEO Frank Blake and New York real estate developer Jerry Speyer each gave $30,800 to the NRSC.

The DSCC began February with $3 million in the bank and $15.7 million in debts, compared to $3.3 million in cash-on-hand and $10 million in debts for the NRSC. Both parties borrowed millions of dollars to finance their spending on the 2012 Senate elections. Democrats increased their majority to 55 seats from 53.

Original post is Lobbyists Help Senate Democrats Outraise Republicans in January by Political Capital.

Photograph by Matthew Staver/Bloomberg

An attendee visits the Northrop Grumman Corp. booth during the 28th National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in this file photo.

With Democrats leading the Senate and Republicans controlling the House of Representatives, it’s a good time for companies to nurture bipartisan alliances by making early campaign contributions to both parties.

Following are some of the companies that made donations through their political action committees to at least one Democratic national party committee and one Republican national party committee in January, according to Federal Election Commission filings due today.

Northrop Grumman Corp., a defense contractor bracing for automatic budget cuts set to take effect March 1, donated $15,000 apiece to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. It gave the same amount to the House campaign organizations, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. All of the donations were made Jan. 4.

The $15,000 represents the maximum donation active PACs can give to a national party committee in a calendar year.

Google Inc., the world’s biggest search engine company, gave $5,000 each to the DCCC and NRSC.

American Airlines, which will become the world’s biggest airline after merging with US Airways, donated $15,000 apiece to the DSCC and NRSC.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. sent $15,000 each to the DSCC and NRCC on Jan. 23.

Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable company, sent $15,000 each to the DSCC and NRCC on Jan. 22.

Original post is Companies Donate Early to Dueling Political Parties by Political Capital.

Here’s something Democratic and Republican Senators can agree on: they both have a friend in high places at Reservoir Capital Group.

Daniel H. Stern, a co-founder of the Manhattan investment firm, donated $30,800 on March 31 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is in charge of defending the Democrats’ Senate majority in the November election. Another co-founder, Craig A. Huff, gave $30,800 on March 5 to its partisan opposite, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is working to overturn the Democrats’ 53-47 seat edge.

The donations were disclosed on March campaign finance reports by the DSCC and NRSC. The $30,800 figure represents the maximum amount an individual donor may give to a national party committee in a calendar year.

Stern is a frequent donor to Democratic organizations and candidates including President Obama. Huff donated to Mitt Romney, Obama’s presumptive Republican opponent, in August 2011.

Original post is Reservoir Capital Co-Founders Differ Over Senate Control by Political Capital.