Mitch’s Donations

Following Mitch’s Money, Presentation by Doug Price on July 6th, 2020

In this addition to Following Mitch's Money I’m taking a look at Mitch and his donations to others along with donations from family members to Mitch and connected Mitch PACS and/or committees. All of the monetary figures come from Open Secrets — The Center for Responsive Politics.

First some information from a previous Following Mitch’s Money: Over the years I’ve heard that Mitch is rich so I investigated and according to Open Secrets he is now the 7th or 8th richest Senator in the Senate. A big chunk of his net worth came about due to an inheritance from his wife’s father James Chao. Estimated to be $25 million. His net worth is estimated to be between $34 — $55 million. He and his wife own a house in Louisville and a 3,000 square foot home in Washington DC. An old historic home built in 1890.

He has no debts.

Some new information on Mitch; while he is rich, he has been pretty stingy with his wallet when it comes to using his personal money to donate to fellow politicians! My research details his donations beginning in 1999 to his last in December 2013. From the smallest amount of $400 to the largest amount of $10,000 he has contributed a total of $30,400. The largest contribution was $10,000 (June 2013) to the Republican Party of Kentucky. Senator Rand Paul has received $10,400. Others benefited by his largesse have been David Vitter, Alice Forgy Kerr and George W Bush, plus Jeff Sessions and Johnny Isakson.

If you are wondering if the David Vitter is the David Vitter from Louisiana then you would be correct. If you haven’t heard of him then Google him!

I feel certain he has directed many other contributions from PACS that he either controls or has strong input in how the funds are spent.

Based on my research it appears his wife (Elaine Chao) is much easier with her pocketbook as she has contributed over $177,000 from 1989–2020.

From an earlier segment: Mitch and Elaine are wealthy and have annual salaries of $193,400 (Mitch) and $199,700 (Elaine). By comparison the current Federal minimum wage computes to $15,080. The poverty level is $12,760. I think we know how many times Mitch has voted to raise the Federal minimum wage!

The recipients have been the Republican Party of Kentucky ($60,000), the Republican National Committee ($50, 500), Protective Life Corp PAC, and politicians named Mitch ($11,000), Rand Paul($10,400) and George W Bush ($6,000). Elaine was Bush’s Secretary of Labor.

Other donations include the Republican parties of several other states, Bob Packwood, Mel Martinez, Frank Murkowski, Mitt Romney, David Ritter and a huge, I mean really big $250 donation to the Value in Electing Women PAC.

Who is the Protective Life Corporation? Based in Birmingham and owned by a Japanese firm called Dai-lchi Life. Dai-Lchi means “number one or first”. As of 2016 Ms. Chao was on the Board of Directors of PLC but is no longer on the board. The current President of PLC has given hundreds of dollars to the PLC PAC.

During the 2020 election cycle the PLC PAC gave $45,000 to Republicans with the largest contribution going to Jeff Sessions ($10,000).

Mitch’s father-in-law (James SC Chao) is a prolific giver to Republicans. $70,000 to the Republican Party of Kentucky, $33,000 to the National Republican Committee, $27,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, $5,250 to Mitt Romney (interesting!), $15,200 to Mitch, $2,000 to David Vitter, $5,000 to the Bluegrass Committee, $3,000 to George W Bush. There is another Chao (James YH) from Texas making contributions too: $5,600 to Mitch, $2,700 to Jamie Comer and $7,800 to the National Senatorial Senate Committee. I was unable to determine any connection other than the last name. Another search indicates that people with the last name of Chao have contributed $230,000 to the Republican Party of Kentucky. In a future Following Mitch’s Money I plan to discuss who controls the Kentucky Republican Party.

Another family connection is Gordon Hartogensis. Mr. Hartogensis is married to Elain Chaos sister and is the 16th Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

Quoting from the AFL-CIO’s Corporate Moves publication he was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 72–27. There was concern about nepotism due to his family relationships and his apparent lack of experience in the area of pensions. Wikepedia refers to him as a multimillionaire.

During a future Following Mitch’s Money I may delve into Mr. Hartogensis contributions and his relation to other Republicans. The bottom line — it is very interesting to follow the intricacies of Money and Power.

A teaser: Mr. Hartogensis has given $50,000 to the Republican Party of Kentucky, $11,600 to Mitch, $2,000 to David Vitter, and $5,000 to the Bluegrass Committee.

Also on my radar is looking into the Bluegrass Committee PAC based in Washington where there is no Bluegrass unless on the bottom of Mitch’s shoes. This Committee has given $210,000 to Republican House/Senate candidates in the 2020 election cycle.

As noted earlier — Mitch has contributed only $30,400 to Federal candidates. From 1989-mid 2020 to benefit himself he has raised over $98 million!

Again, all of this points back to what Mitch has stated on many occasions: the key to winning in politics is Money Money Money!

Doug Price is a member/treasurer of the MMRC and a regular participant on the #MoscowMitchMonday live stream, discussing Mitch and Money. Doug is an advocate of governmental change on the State/Federal level and has periodically worked on Democratic campaigns dating back to the 80s. Follow Doug on Twitter @ PriceDoug