Liberal billionaire George Soros and his family are providing a major financial boost to Russ Feingold’s Wisconsin Senate campaign and rank among his top donors, according to a review of Federal Election Commission records.
Feingold, who spent 18 years in the Senate before losing to incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson (R.) in 2010, is running in an attempt to regain the seat. He received a $5,400 donation from Soros, a controversial hedge funder and major Democratic donor, in August 2015, according to campaign finance records. Of that, $2,700 was designated for the general election.
Two of Soros’s sons have contributed heavily to Feingold’s campaign.
Alexander Soros, a non-profit executive who sits on the boards of the Open Society Foundations, Jewish Funds for Justice, and Global Witness, added $5,400 to Feingold’s campaign, with $2,700 designated for the general.
Jonathan Soros, the CEO of the New York-based investment firm JS Capital Management LLC, gave $5,000 to Russ for Wisconsin through Democracy Engine, a donation processor that channels donor funds to liberal causes. Of this amount, $2,300 was designated for the general.
Jonathan’s wife, Jennifer Allan Soros, earmarked $5,400 to Feingold through Democracy Engine, with $2,700 assigned to a later date.
Donations from the Soros family to Feingold total $21,200, making it the biggest financial backer of any family that has contributed to Feingold’s comeback attempt.
Brian Reisinger, a spokesman for Johnson’s campaign, told the Washington Free Beacon it was hypocritical for Feingold to take money from big money donors since he positioned himself on the front lines of campaign finance reform during his time in Congress.
"George Soros practically invented the idea of big money trying to overtake an election," Reisinger said. "By seeking his help, Senator Feingold’s hypocrisy has come full circle. He’s now doing everything he once said he was against."
Feingold announced that he would not adhere to his long held "Garage Door Pledge" this election cycle, a pledge that would have required him to gain a majority of contributions from Wisconsin residents.
Nearly 70 percent of Feingold’s contributions have come from donors who lived outside of Wisconsin. Johnson has raised 11 percent more contributions from in-state donors.
George Soros again has been a major financial force in the 2016 election cycle, with $13 million committed to Hillary Clinton and other Democrats.
Soros is the only funder of the Immigrant Voters Win PAC, a super PAC used by three activist groups with a goal of registering 400,000 voters and getting them to the polls to vote for Democrats.
"The intense anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric that has been fueled by the Republican primary is deeply offensive," Soros said in March. "There should be consequences for the outrageous statements and proposals that we've regularly heard from candidates Trump and Cruz."
Soros also is fueling the effort to challenge voter ID laws in numerous states, including Wisconsin, vowing to put at least $5 million into the multi-state campaign.
Marc Elias, a partner at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Perkins Coie, is spearheading the voter ID challenges. Elias is the top campaign lawyer for Clinton’s presidential campaign, although he is bringing forward the lawsuits in his capacity as an attorney at Perkins Coie.
Feingold’s campaign did not return a request for comment on the Soros family’s donations.