🎬US Election Special: Money is winning

US ELECTIONS
Regardless of which way this election goes, money won

When the polls closed yesterday, it marked two things: 1) No more lousy opinions on which of the candidates is better for your aspirations to migrate to America and 2) the most expensive election season in American history has finally come to an end.

A projected $15.9 billion has been dumped into the presidential and congressional campaigns on the ballot today, according to the nonpartisan nonprofit OpenSecrets.

• By comparison, the 2020 campaigns raised $15.1 billion, and the 2016 ones $6.5 billion (not inflation-adjusted).

• More than 11,000 political action committees(PAC) and other political groups helped fund this election’s record spend. Nearly two-thirds of the donations came from just 100 groups that got boatloads of money from billionaires.

• Over 400 Americans donated at least $1 million, up from 23 people for the 2004 election.

This year, high-earners swayed both ways, but more veered left: Forbes counted 83 billionaires backing Vice President Kamala Harris and 52 in former President Donald Trump’s corner.

Between their campaign committees and the PACs that supported their election efforts:

• Harris raised $1.6 billion with help from deep-pocketed donors like Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates, Laurene Powell Jobs, Reed Hastings, and Dustin Moskovitz (a Facebook co-founder).

• Trump raised $1.1 billion, with one-fifth of the pile coming from Elon Musk and Timothy Mellon—a banking heir who was this election’s largest individual donor. The former president also got $100+ million from Miriam Adelson, the majority owner of casino chain, Las Vegas Sands.

For perspective, campaigns for Canada’s last federal election in 2021 cost just $69 million (inflation-adjusted). Similarly, elections in the UK and Germany are 1/40th the price of US races per person, according to the Wall Street Journal. Eight in 10 Americans think money has too much influence on US elections, per Pew Research. -CCS.

TRENDING
Stalker alert

Just an FYI… X is changing how its block feature works. The social network will now let users view public posts, as well as following and followers lists, of people who’ve blocked them. If users want their tweets protected, they must set their accounts to private. What’s the point of having a block feature at all? Good question — many X users are less than thrilled with the update, arguing it puts users in danger of being stalked and harassed. X argues that the change would foster more transparency on the platform.

SHOWER THOUGHTS

NEWS
Round the continent

• Nigerian President Bola Tinubu ordered on Monday the immediate release of all minors currently facing trial for taking part in cost-of-living protests.

• Prince William is on a 4-day trip to South Africa to engage young environmentalists on Africa’s climate crisis.

• Elon Musk’s internet service provider Starlink is halting new sign-ups in Africa, citing a demand surge in cities like Nairobi, Gaborone, and throughout Nigeria.

• Ghana’s cocoa farmers are hoarding beans following remarks by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia — a presidential candidate in the Dec. 7 elections — that the government would raise prices for farmers. The West African nation is the world’s second-largest cocoa producer.