It’s still early days in the fight to become the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nominee, but a few CEOs of S&P 500 companies already have been voting for their favorites with their wallets.
“They’re clearly maintaining a relationship,” said Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability, a nonprofit that pushes for better disclosure of corporate political activity. “They probably know them. They’ve met them, dealt with them.” Western Union’s statement on its CEO’s donation to Hickenlooper appears to bear out Freed’s view. A company spokeswoman said: “Mr. Ersek’s personal donation stems from a longtime working relationship and standing friendship.”
Baker and Joly’s contributions are in fact evenly divided between the primary and general elections. But FEC documents show a possible breach of contribution limits by Hayes, as he made a $2,800 donation in early March to Hickenlooper’s primary campaign followed by another $2,800 to Hickenlooper for the primary in late March. Ball and Hickenlooper’s press offices didn’t respond to request for comment on that issue.
Why would CEO’s support ANY Dem Presidential candidate? Do they WANT their corporate tax rate RAISED back to 39%.