Former President Bill Clinton got back on the fundraising trail for pal and Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, this time headlining an event held last night at the New York City home of major democratic donor Jon Stryker, according to Politico.
Stryker is a major donor for the left, contributing at least $2 million to President Barack Obama’s Super PAC Priorities USA.
Jon Stryker is the brother of the Democracy Alliance’s Pat Stryker, who founded the liberal dark-money group’s Colorado chapter.
Stryker's failed green energy venture, Abound Solar, received a $400 million loan guarantee. Not only did Abound’s failure cost taxpayers an estimated $70 million, but it also let down the people of Colorado who were promised 2,000 jobs.
The Strykers received their fortune from their grandfather, who was a tycoon of the medical device industry, and still run Stryker Corp.
The medical device tax that came into effect as a part of Obamacare has caused major problems for their company despite the Strykers’ generous financial support for Obama.
Stryker Corp was forced to layoff roughly 1,000 employees as a result of the newly imposed tax.
Jon Stryker is not the first wealthy donor that Clinton has hit up to pump money into Virginia’s gubernatorial election.
Clinton attended another New York City fundraiser this past March at the home of hedge-fund billionaire Marc Lasry, who bundled nearly $1 million for President Barack Obama’s 2012 election campaign.
Clinton also headed down to Florida for McAuliffe to tap the pockets of John Morgan, who was also a major bundler of Obama’s 2012 campaign.
Fundraising outside the state of Virginia is becoming a pattern for the McAuliffe campaign.
McAuliffe has used his political connections from a long career of national fundraising for the Democratic Party to bring some of the party’s biggest donors on board his Virginia campaign.
Among these donors has been Mighty Morphin Power Rangers creator Haim Saban, his old friend from the Clinton days Ron Burkle, Chicago’s J.B. Pritzker, who is the principal owner of Hyatt Hotels, and even president of Democracy Alliance Kelly Craighead.