CITY HALL — The mayor's top campaign donors are worth the entire annual economy of Panama, according to a progressive group endorsing his opponent and seeking to depict him as beholden to the super-rich.
United Working Families, an umbrella organization of neighborhood groups like Action Now and unions like the Chicago Teachers Union, released a report Tuesday showing that eight of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's top campaign donors are on the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, with a combined worth of $38 billion.
Kristen Crowell, the group's executive director, called those eight contributors "a bunch that has the combined [gross domestic product] of Panama, and is worth more than the wealth about 100 nations produce annually."
The group's list of top contributors and their estimated worth according to Forbes magazine:
- John Arnold, $2.6 billion
- Eli Broad, $7.1 billion
- Ken Griffin, $5.5 billion
- Sam Zell, $5 billion
- David Geffen, $6.9 billion
- Shahid Khan, $4.6 billion
- Sean Parker, $2.7 billion
- Steven Spielberg, $3.6 billion
A Tribune list of 60 "elite donors" compiled earlier this year included $560,000 from Citadel Investment Group, where Griffin is the chief executive officer.
Griffin himself contributed $100,000 to Emanuel's first mayoral campaign, $75,000 early this year and another $250,000 earlier this month, according to state campaign records, as well as $150,000 late last year to Chicago Forward, the super political action committee affiliated with the mayor.
Zell, as well, the former Tribune owner, gave $150,000 directly to the Emanuel campaign earlier this month, after contributing $50,000 to the Chicago Forward super PAC, according to state contribution records.
Spielberg, the movie mogul, contributed $75,000 to Emanuel's first mayoral campaign and another $25,000 at the end of last year, according to state records, while music mogul Geffen contributed $100,000 to Emanuel's 2011 campaign and another $50,000 at the end of last year.
Arnold contributed $100,000 to the mayor's re-election late last year and another $100,000 this month, as well as $5,300 in 2013. Broad contributed $25,000 last year and another $75,000 this month, after contributing $5,300 in 2013 and $25,000 to Emanuel's first run for mayor.
Khan contributed $100,000 to the first campaign and another $100,000 last month, with $5,300 in between. Parker contributed $100,000 to Emanuel's first mayoral campaign and $5,300 in 2013.
The group estimated they had contributed a combined $1.6 million just to Emanuel's campaign.
Crowell said these supporters weren't in the top 1 percent of earners, but the very top .01 percent, a subgroup of superelites that was a prime focus of Thomas Piketty's 2014 book "Capital in the 21st Century."
"While these are interesting factoids, they are even more terrifying realities for the working families of Chicago who live under the heel of the .01 percent that Rahm so ably serves," Crowell said.
United Working Families has endorsed Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (D-Chicago) for mayor, and Garcia has sought to depict Emanuel as "out of touch" and beholden to rich contributors.
Emanuel this week drew attention to his support from union workers, saying, "None of these people look like Ken Griffin."
Emanuel has raised an estimated $20 million for his campaign war chest, vastly more than Garcia, who had $878,000 on hand at the end of last year, but this week picked up $300,000 combined from CTU and the American Federation of Teachers.
Emanuel's campaign did not immediately respond to the United Working Families report.
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