Some big investors got a nice payoff Tuesday when Mark Sanford, South Carolina’s disgraced former governor, won back his old House seat.
As Sanford acknowledged in his victory speech Tuesday night in Charleston, he’s got a lot to be thankful for. The list could include more than $200,000 in late donations from big Republican donors and interests who bet that the ex-South Carolina governor could overcome a sex scandal and get his political career on track. The group includes 47 organizations and out-of-state givers — a number of them with ties to the financial industry and libertarian causes.
Their support came as party leaders were shunning Sanford after revelations that his ex-wife was suing him for trespassing — a charge the congressman-elect has a Thursday court date to answer. Two corporations with facilities in South Carolina, MeadWestVaco, and Boeing, gave $5,000 each from their political action committees. The National Rifle Association gave $2,000 and CTIA, the trade association for the wireless industry, $1,000.
But Sanford’s most intriguing pool of late support came from the investment community. He received $5,200 donations — the maximum permitted under federal law — from a number of out-of-state givers with ties to financial firms.
Howard and Andrea Rich: Howard Rich is a New York real estate developer and long-time supporter of libertarian causes whose many organizations have contributed at least $1.7 million to South Carolina nonprofits. He founded the 501(c)4 group U.S. Term Limits. The group’s recommendation for a maximum of three terms for House members will be violated by Sanford when he takes his seat, as it is the same one he occupied for six years in the late 1990s before being elected governor.
Richard and Maureen Chilton. According to Chilton’s profile on Influence Explorer, Sanford has been his top beneficiary. Chilton is the founder of a Connecticut-based hedge fund. The Chilton Trust, which caters to “ultra high-net worth individuals,” recently named former CIA Director Porter Goss, a Florida Republican who served in Congress with Sanford, as a director. Goss is also the chairman of the board of the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent body authorized by Congress to investigate ethics complaints against lawmakers.
Paul and Laura Jost. Paul Jost is a real estate investor and anti-tax activist who after two unsuccessful runs for Congress in Virginia decided to relocate to Florida.
Patrick and Carol Welsh. Patrick Welsh of Vero Beach, Fla., has a been an active donor, mostly to Republicans, with a few strategically placed contributions to Democrats on the tax-writing Senate Finance Committee: Max Baucus of Montana, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Chuck Schumer of New York. Welsh works for a New York-based investment firm that specializes in information services and health care.
Jeff and Janine Yass. Jeff Yass is the partner of Arthur Dantchik, who also gave Sanford $2,600, in the suburban Philadelphia investment firm Susquehanna International Group. Dantchik and Yass are are libertarian financiers who use poker as a training tool for their traders.
Two partners at another mid-Atlantic investment house, Christopher and Jon Greer, also gave a combined $5,200 to Sanford. Their New Jersey investment firm, GSG Advisors, bills itself as a “wealth management firm serving the needs of affluent individuals, families and closely held businesses.”
Another notable out-of-state contributor who maxed-out late to Sanford: Georgette Mosbacher gave $2,600. She’s a controversy-prone cosmetics executive and co-chair of the RNC Finance Committee who recently blamed her party’s leadership for its losses in the 2012 elections. She divorced the late Robert Mosbacher, a long time confidante of former President George H.W. Bush who served as his secretary of Commerce.
Sanford’s Late Donors
Last minute donations by organizations and out of state contributors:
MEADWESTVACO CORP. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
RICHMOND
VA
$5,000
THE BOEING COMPANY POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
ARLINGTON
VA
$5,000
Maureen Chilton
Darien
CT
$2,600
Homemaker
Richard L. Chilton
Darien
CT
$2,600
Chilton Investments
Lisa M. Ferraro
New Canaan
CT
$2,600
None
Michael E. Martino
New Canaan
CT
$2,600
Mason Capital Management
Laura Jost
Miami Beach
FL
$2,600
Chandler Managment
Paul Jost
Miami Beach
FL
$2,600
Chandler Managment
Carol Welsh
Vero Beach
FL
$2,600
Homemaker
Patrick Welsh
Vero Beach
FL
$2,600
WCAS Management
Bill Bean
Ft. Wayne
IN
$2,600
Hanning and Bean
R. Bruce Dye
Ft. Wayne
IN
$2,600
Heritage Service Corp.
Rosalind Richardson
Charlotte
NC
$2,600
Homemaker
Max C. Chapman
Little Falls
NJ
$2,600
Gardner Capital Management
Chris Greer
Moorestown
NJ
$2,600
GSG Advisors
Jon Greer
Moorestown
NJ
$2,600
GSG Advisors
Georgette Mosbacher
New York
NY
$2,600
Borghese, Inc.
Amy Thompson
Payne
OH
$2,600
Brigadoon
Arthur Dantchik
Haverford
PA
$2,600
SIG
Andrea Rich
Philadelphia
PA
$2,600
ALG
Howard Rich
Philadelphia
PA
$2,600
Center for Independant
Janine Yass
Haverford
PA
$2,600
Homemaker
Jeff Yass
Haverford
PA
$2,600
SIG
Patrick Byrne
Park City
UT
$2,600
Overstock.com
Richad Vaughan
Houston
TX
$2,500
PAGF
COUNTRY FIRST POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE INC. (COUNTRY FIRST PAC)
ALEXANDRIA
VA
$2,500
FUND FOR AMERICAS FUTURE
COLUMBIA
SC
$2,500
Marcia Hocker
Stuart
FL
$2,400
Homemaker
Richard Hocker
Stuart
FL
$2,400
MAH, Inc.
Kristen Hocker
Haddonfield
NJ
$2,400
Maplewood Senior Living
Robert L. Luddy
Raleigh
NC
$2,000
Captive Aire
Roger Ackerman
Corning
NY
$2,000
Retired
Jennifer Bell
Saratoga Springs
NY
$2,000
Homemaker
NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA POLITICAL VICTORY FUND
FAIRFAX
VA
$2,000
PETE SESSIONS FOR CONGRESS
DALLAS
TX
$2,000
J. M. Lapeyre
New Orleans
LA
$1,500
The Laitram Corp.
Nelson Obus
Princeton
NJ
$1,500
Wynnefield Capital
Kevin Fee
Garden City
NY
$1,500
Reliable Sprinkler
Peter Lawson-Johnston
Greenwich
CT
$1,000
Guggenheim Partners.com
Edwin Williamson
Washington
DC
$1,000
Retired
Oliver Grace
Palm Beach
FL
$1,000
Development Services LLC
F. Harlan Batrus
Mamaroneck
NY
$1,000
Ryan Labs Asset Management
Michael Fee
Elmsford
NY
$1,000
Reliable Automatic SprinklerCo
Ronald Henriksen
Houston
TX
$1,000
Logix Communications
CTIA – THE WIRELESS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
WASHINGTON
DC
$1,000
Dorchester County Republican Party
Summerville
CA
$1,000
http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2013/whom-mark-sanford-owes/
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