Billionaire venture capitalist Reid Hoffman has poured $8 million into the Wisconsin Democratic Party over the past five weeks to support fellow gubernatorial candidate David Crowley in his race against Republican Tom Tiffany.
The LinkedIn co-founder donated $2 million on September 24, $1 million on October 2, and $5 million in two separate contributions on October 5 and October 20, according to Wisconsin campaign finance records. The rapid-fire check issuance is part of a last-minute spending spree by some of America’s wealthiest donors before Election Day.
In just a week and a half, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $750,000 to Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, and Y Combinator co-founder Jessica Livingston donated another $150,000, according to state records.
Bloomberg has already pledged about $80 million to help Democrats this fall, much of it aimed at winning a House majority.
Meanwhile, PayPal co-founder Luke Nosek donated $500,000 on Tuesday to the Judicial Integrity PAC, which supports conservative judicial candidates in Texas, according to Texas campaign finance records. The group had already received $2 million. tesla and space x CEO Elon Musk, according to state records. Mr. Musk’s disclosed political contributions through late October totaled about $475 million, making him the largest known individual donor this cycle.
The checks arrive during the final week of advertising frenzy, with more than $1 billion currently reserved for airing through Election Day, according to AdImpact. More than $11.2 billion has already been spent or set aside for the 2026 cycle, breaking records for political ad spending, according to AdImpact. That’s more than any previous presidential election cycle.
Hoffman framed his spending as an involuntary necessity.
“We should get the money out of politics,” Hoffman wrote to X on Friday. “Some people will spend exorbitant amounts of money to keep authoritarian clowns in power, but those of us who believe in American ideals cannot give in.”
House Majority PAC, the main super PAC working to elect House Democrats, received $8.5 million from Mr. Hoffman this term, according to Federal Election Commission records.
In the past two weeks, the group has run 13 ads related to disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. According to AdImpact, the total spend was approximately $8.4 million and the number of impressions was approximately 719.4 million. Until this month, the company had not run a single ad focused on Epstein.
The spot has propelled Mr. Epstein into at least six battleground House races, and Republicans have been accused of helping block the release of government records related to Mr. Epstein or highlighting his ties to him.
In Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District, an ad titled “Justice” attacked Republican Rep. Eli Crane over his votes related to the release of the Epstein files and donations from alleged Epstein associates. In Pennsylvania’s 8th Congressional District, ads called “Predators” and “Teachers” targeted Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan. And this week, an ad called “Exposed” went after Republican Rep. Mike Turner of Ohio’s 10th District over his record on donations and file disclosures from Epstein’s confidants. All three races are close, and there is a possibility that he will take control of the House of Representatives in the next Congress.
Because the super PAC pools contributions from donors, there is no way to trace Mr. Hoffman’s money to specific ads. But this blitz clearly comes with complications for Democrats. Mr. Hoffman continued his relationship with Mr. Epstein even after pleading guilty to sex crimes against a minor in 2008.
Hoffman admitted that he visited Epstein’s private island and met with him after his conviction. He said the relationship began with 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. “Yet, by agreeing to participate in a fundraiser in Epstein’s presence, I helped restore his reputation and perpetuate injustice. For this, I deeply regret it.”
There are no allegations that Mr. Hoffman was involved in Mr. Epstein’s sex trafficking crimes, but Republicans still have control over the relationship. The Republican National Committee this week accused Democrats of hypocrisy for accepting funds from Mr. Hoffman while using Mr. Epstein against Republican candidates.
“Democrats have no problem with political funding as long as it benefits their campaign,” RNC press secretary Natalie Baldasssar told Fox News earlier this week.
And the attack tracked Hoffman’s funds to Wisconsin. In the new 15-second ad, the Tiffany campaign splices together clips of Crowley saying “Epstein” and “billionaire,” before a narrator says, “We’re funding David Crowley’s campaign.”
