Midterm elections take place on Tuesday as Democrats and Republicans battle for control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, with billions of dollars having already been spent in the 2022 cycle.
While federal elections are taking place on November 8 will decide which party controls each chamber of Congress, there are also races across the country as candidates seek to be elected as governor, attorney general and a slew of other positions.
Campaign finance date from Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit OpenSecrets.org shows that 10 wealthy individuals have spent a combined $540 million in political donations in the 2022 elections, while total spending is projected to be $8.9 billion.
The Claim
The claim that the billionaire philanthropist George Soros leads the midterms donors' pack has been made and repeated across social media in the run-up to the vote.
On Twitter, the user Revolutionary Blackout Network tweeting on November 6: "George Soros spent 128 million dollars during this midterm, making him the biggest spender this election. This is not a democracy, this is a capitalist dictatorship [...] But whenever someone brings that up Democrats pretend you are being an anti semite."
That's a reference to the fact that the Hungarian-born billionaire is Jewish. He is also a Holocaust survivor, who has been the target of Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Twitter account @unusual_whales shared a list of "the largest donors so far in the 2022 midterms," which showed Soros in first place.
The Facts
A number of news outlets reported in recent days that Soros has been the single biggest individual donor during the 2022 elections.
CNBC reported on November 3 that Soros was the "top donor" and has "contributed over $128 million to the midterms." Fox News reported on November 6 that "Liberal billionaire Soros ranked top of the list for individual donors in the 2022 midterm election," citing figures from OpenSecrets.
Campaign finance data from the most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), compiled by OpenSecrets, shows that George Soros is indeed the single largest individual donor in the 2022 elections.
Soros contributed $128,485,971, all of it going to Democrats. Most of that funding went to the the super PAC Democracy II, which supports Democrats and liberal causes, according to CNBC's report.
The next three top donors all donated exclusively to Republicans, including Richard Uihlein, an Illinois-based billionaire and co-founder of shipping giant Uline, who contributed $80,707,168.
Seven of the top 10 individuals were Republican donors. One of the 10, founder and CEO of crypto exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Friend contributed to both parties, while Newsweb Corporation's Fred Eychaner donated to Democrats.
Soros has been a longtime contributor to the Democratic Party as well as funding liberal causes. In the 2020 election, he was the 20th largest individual donor, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets.
Soros contributed $9,148,643 to Democrats during that period. During the 2018 midterms, he contributed $20,135,586 to Democrats—making him the 7th largest individual donor of that cycle.
Newsweek has reached out to George Soros and the DNC for comment.
The Ruling
True.
Campaign finance data shows George Soros was the biggest single individual donor in the 2022 elections.
He donated more than $128 million and has contributed exclusively to Democrats.
FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
