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Billionaire venture capitalist Reid Hoffman has put $8 million into the Democratic Party of Wisconsin over the past five weeks to help the party's gubernatorial nominee David Crowley in his race against Republican Tom Tiffany. The LinkedIn co-founder gave $2 million on Sept. 24, $1 million on Oct. 2 and another $5 million in two installments on Oct. 5 and Oct. 20, according to Wisconsin campaign finance records. The rapid-fire checks are part of a last-minute spending spree by some of America's richest donors before Election Day. In just the past week and a half, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave Democratic Texas gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa $750,000, while Y Combinator co-founder Jessica Livingston chipped in another $150,000, state records show. Bloomberg had already committed roughly $80 million to help Democrats this fall, much of it aimed at winning control of the House. Meanwhile, PayPal co-founder Luke Nosek gave $500,000 on Tuesday to Judicial Fairness PAC, which supports conservative judicial candidates in Texas, according to Texas campaign finance records. The group had already received $2 million from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, according to state records. Musk's roughly $475 million in disclosed political giving through late October makes him the cycle's biggest known individual donor. The checks are landing in the middle of a final-week ad frenzy, with more than $1 billion now booked to air before Election Day, according to AdImpact. The 2026 cycle has already broken the record for political ad spending, with more than $11.2 billion spent or reserved, according to AdImpact. That's more than any previous presidential election cycle as well. Hoffman has framed his own spending as a reluctant necessity. "We should get money out of politics," Hoffman wrote Friday on X. "And while others spend outrageous amounts to keep authoritarian clowns in power, those of us who believe in the ideals of America cannot yield." The House Majority PAC, the main super PAC working to elect House Democrats, has received $8.5 million from Hoffman this cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records. In the past two weeks, the group has rolled out 13 ads related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They total about $8.4 million in spending and nearly 719.4 million impressions, according to AdImpact. Until this month, it had not run a single Epstein-focused ad. The spots have pushed Epstein into at least six battleground House races, accusing Republicans of helping block the release of government records related to Epstein or highlighting their ties to people in his orbit. In Arizona's Second District, an ad called "Justice" attacked Republican Rep. Eli Crane over votes related to releasing the Epstein files and contributions from alleged Epstein associates. In Pennsylvania's Eighth District, ads called "Predators" and "Teacher" targeted Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan. And this week, an ad called "Exposed" went after Republican Rep. Mike Turner in Ohio's Tenth District over a contribution from an Epstein confidant and his record on releasing the files. All three races are tightly contested and could help determine control of the House in the next Congress. There is no way to trace Hoffman's money to any particular ad because super PACs pool contributions from their donors. But the blitz comes with an obvious complication for Democrats: Hoffman's continued association with Epstein after the financier pleaded guilty in 2008 to sex offenses involving a minor. Hoffman has acknowledged visiting Epstein's private island and meeting with him after the conviction. He has said the relationship grew out of fundraising for the MIT Media Lab and has repeatedly said he regrets continuing to meet with Epstein. "My last interaction with Epstein was in 2015," Hoffman told Axios in 2019. "Still, by agreeing to participate in any fundraising activity where Epstein was present, I helped to repair his reputation and perpetuate injustice. For this, I am deeply regretful." There is no allegation that Hoffman participated in Epstein's sex-trafficking crimes, but Republicans have nevertheless seized on the relationship. The Republican National Committee this week accused Democrats of hypocrisy for accepting Hoffman's money while using Epstein against GOP candidates. "Democrats have no problem with money in politics so long as it benefits their own campaign," RNC spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre told Fox News earlier this week. And the attack has followed Hoffman's money into Wisconsin. In a new 15-second ad, Tiffany's campaign splices together clips of Crowley saying "Epstein" and "billionaires" before a narrator says they "are bankrolling David Crowley's campaign."
document fetched 2026-10-31 02:55 · canonical https://cnbc.com/2026/10/30/reid-hoffman-democrats-epstein-midterms-2026.html