Overview
The Wall Street Journal quoted Jason Abel in an article titled “Private Equity Wagers Campaign Cash on Clinton, Senate Races.” The article, published September 29, discusses donations from private equity in the 2016 presidential contest. According to Federal Election Commission data, private-equity professionals have donated almost eight times more cash to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, than to Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, which is a dramatic shift from the 2012 election.
The article states that a number of private-equity executives were all but shut off from contributing to Trump’s campaign once he named Gov. Pence as his running mate. A network of federal and state laws, called pay-to-play rules, restrict investment advisers from contributing to the campaigns of politicians who control state or local finances, in order to prevent bribery and corruption. The law applies to officials with control over a state's investments, and as governor of Indiana, Mr. Pence can appoint board members to the state’s $30 billion pension fund. Contributions to the Trump campaign could trigger a two-year ban on doing business with Indiana, a major risk for private-equity firms that raise money from public investment funds in the state.
Mr. Abel says: "Pay-to-play rules play a very important role in determining contributions. There are compliance issues, and there are optics issues."
The full article can be read at The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).
