Owner of the New Republic Chris Hughes paid $1,922,500 in cash for a new home in New York’s 19th congressional district where his husband Sean Eldridge plans to run for a House of Representatives seat in 2014, according to New York magazine.
Investor and activist Eldridge has been eyeing a congressional seat since 2010 when there was speculation he would run against tea partier Nan Hayworth. Eldridge instead opted to campaign for Hayworth's opponent, Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney.
In addition to Democratic fund-raising, Eldridge also founded the small business investment fund Hudson River Ventures and created the political action committee Protect Our Democracy, with the hopes of getting "big money" out of politics.
Eldridge, who was born in Canada and raised in Ohio, filed papers to run in the recently redistricted 19th, currently represented by Republican Chris Gibson, on Feb. 1, after closing on the house in early January.
The couple owns two additional New York properties, each purchased for $5 million. The couple’s wealth will likely be used by Gibson to make Eldridge appear out of touch to voters within the district.
"Simply buying a multi-million-dollar home at the top of a hill doesn't make you a local, nor does it give you an understanding of the people you would want to represent," Gibson's spokeswoman Stephanie Valle told New York magazine.