The Center for Public Integrity

Joe Ricketts, a billionaire who pioneered online stock trading by founding TD Ameritrade Inc., was far and away the biggest donor to super PACs last month, having given $11.4 million to the Ending Spending Action Fund.

The donations rocket Ricketts to No. 4 on the list of top donors to super PACs, according to data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics and analyzed by Center for Public Integrity.

The amount is equal to about 90 percent of his total giving to the controversial political organizations.

Also entering the top 10 this month is the United Auto Workers union, which, in September, contributed $5.4 million to its super PAC, the new UAW Education Fund. The donations rank it at No. 9.

The top 10 super PAC “super donors” have collectively given about $135 million to these unlimited spending groups so far this election cycle, about 25 percent of the $546 million that all super PACs have raised, according to CRP.

Ricketts and his super PAC pledged to spend $12 million this election with $10 million opposing Obama and $2 million helping Republicans in Congress.

The UAW backs Democrats, especially President Barack Obama, who authorized an $81 billion bailout of Chrysler and GM in 2008. Obama will no doubt enjoy UAW support in Ohio, which once again has emerged as the pivotal swing state in the presidential election.

The UAW super PAC gave $1 million to Priorities USA Action, a super PAC supporting the president.

Ranking: 10

Total contributions to super PACs: $9.8 million*

• $9.8 million to RGA Right Direction PAC (pro-Republican), formerly known as the RGA Ohio PAC

Notable state-level contributions:

• $8.3 million to the Florida Republican Party (2010)
• $6 million to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (2010)
• $3 million to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (2010)

Background:

The Republican Governors Association’s appearance on a list of top donors to super PACs — formed to spend money on federal races — at first glance appears to be a mistake. But a close look at the Washington, D.C.-based “527” organization’s disclosure filings shows it is using super PACs to funnel funds into state races.

The recipient of the RGA’s generosity is a super PAC called “RGA Right Direction PAC.” The super PAC takes the money it receives from the RGA — which, as a 527, can accept unlimited funds from corporations and wealthy individuals — and spends it on state races.

In an October 2012 filing, Right Direction disclosed a $250,000 contribution to North Dakota’s Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple, who assumed the job in 2010, when then-Gov. John Hoeven resigned to become a U.S. senator. In North Dakota, corporate donations to candidates are prohibited, but contributions from political action committees to candidates are unlimited, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Ranking: 9

Total contributions to super PACs: $10 million*

• $10 million to Independence USA PAC (pro-moderates and independents)
• $50,000 to Women VOTE! (pro-Democratic)

Notable federal hard money and 527 contributions:

Ranking: 18

Total contributions to super PACs: $5.1 million**

• $1.1 million combined from son Jonathan Soros, son Alexander Soros and daughter Andrea Soros Colombel to Friends of Democracy (pro-campaign finance reform)
• $1 million to Priorities USA Action (pro-Barack Obama)
• $1 million to American Bridge 21st Century (pro-Democratic)
• $850,000 combined from Andrea, Jonathan and daughter-in-law Melissa Soros to Planned Parenthood Votes (pro-Democratic)
• $675,000 to House Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $300,000, all from Alexander, to the Jewish Council for Education and Research (pro-Barack Obama)
• $100,000 to Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)

Notable federal hard money and 527 contributions:

Ranking: 15

Total contributions to super PACs: $5.8 million*

• $2 million to Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $1.5 million to Priorities USA Action (pro-Barack Obama)
• $1.1 million to Workers’ Voice (pro-Democratic), formerly known as AFL-CIO Workers’ Voices PAC     
• $700,000 to House Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $250,000 to DGA Action (pro-Democratic)
• $100,000 to Ohio Families United (pro-Sherrod Brown)
• $100,000 to Women Vote! (pro-Democratic)

Notable federal hard money and 527 contributions:

• $10,000 to the Ohio Democratic Party

Notable state-level contributions:

Ranking: 23        

Total contributions to super PACs: $4.2 million*

• $2.4 million to Priorities USA Action (pro-Barack Obama)
• $725,000 to Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $500,000 to Workers’ Voice (pro-Democratic), formerly known as AFL-CIO Workers’ Voices PAC
• $436,000 to House Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $75,000 to The American Worker (pro-Democratic)
• $26,000 to Stronger Together (pro-Democratic)
• $10,000 to Connecticut's Future PAC (pro-Chris Murphy)

Notable federal hard money and 527 contributions:

• $30,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
• $20,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
• More than $2.2 million to federal Democratic candidates during the 2012 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics

Notable state-level contributions:

• $100,000 to Jay Nixon, Democratic candidate for governor of Missouri
• $55,000 to John Gregg, Democratic candidate for governor of Indiana
• $50,000 to the Maryland Democratic Party
• $50,000 to the Ohio Democratic Party
• $50,000 to the Democratic Governors Association

Total spent on federal lobbying (2007-2012): $3.1 million

Biography:

Ranking: 21

Total contributions to super PACs: $4.4 million*

• $3.4 million to American Crossroads (pro-Republican), including $850,000 from his company, Alliance Management Holdings
• $1 million to Restore Our Future (pro-Mitt Romney)

Federal hard money contributions:

Not including his super PAC contributions, Craft, along with his ex-wife, Kathy, has donated more than $800,000 to federal candidates, party committees, business PACs and other political committees since the 1998 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, including:

• $170,700 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee
• $79,500 to the Republican Party of Kentucky
• $71,600 to the National Republican Congressional Committee
• $59,500 to the National Mining Association PAC
• $57,000 to the Democratic National Committee
• $50,000 to the Democratic Party of Kentucky
• $50,000 to Alliance Resource Partners’ corporate PAC
• $31,950 to the Republican National Committee

Corporate names: Alliance Holdings GP, L.P.; Alliance Resource Partners, L.P.; Alliance Resource GP, LLC; Alliance Management Holdings; Alliance Management Holdings III LLC; MAPCO Coal Inc.

Total spent on federal lobbying (2007-2012): No record of corporate spending at the federal level, but the company has lobbied in the states and is a member of trade organizations that lobby.

Lobbying issues: N/A

Biography:

Wealthy coal executive Joseph W. Craft III was one of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s finance co-chairmen in Kentucky, Craft’s home state.

Ranking: 6

Total contributions to super PACs: $12.1 million*

• $12.1 million to FreedomWorks for America (pro-conservative)

Federal hard money and 527 contributions: $0

Corporate names: Specialty Investments Group, Inc. (formerly known as Specialty Group, Inc.); Kingston Pike Development, LLC; and Americana RoseCraft, LLC

Total spent on federal lobbying (2007-2012): $0

Lobbying issues: N/A

Biography:

A new corporate mega-donor called “Specialty Group, Inc.” splashed onto the scene during the final stretch of the 2012 campaign. Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 11, the Knoxville, Tenn.-based company contributed nearly $5.3 million to the conservative super PAC FreedomWorks for America. By Election Day, that amount increased to almost $10.6 million.

Sixty-one-year-old attorney William S. Rose Jr., serves as Specialty’s CEO, president and general counsel. Rose’s $634,000 home — about a 30-minute drive from downtown Knoxville in a subdivision called Montgomery Cove — is listed as the company’s “principal office.”

Business records show that Specialty Group registered with the Tennessee Secretary of State on Sept. 26. On Nov. 28, the company changed its name to “Specialty Investments Group, Inc.”

In late October, another of Rose’s companies, Kingston Pike Development, LLC, donated an additional $1.5 million to super PAC FreedomWorks for America. Records show the company was created on Sept. 27, a day after Rose registered Specialty.

Ranking: 12

Total contributions to super PACs: $8.2 million*

• $3.9 million to Workers’ Voice (pro-Democratic), formerly known as AFL-CIO Workers’ Voices PAC
• $1 million to Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $660,000 to America Votes Action Fund (pro-Democratic)
• $575,000 to American Bridge 21st Century (pro-Democratic)
• $565,000 to House Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $530,000 to Moving Ohio Forward Action Fund (pro-Democratic)
• $250,000 to Priorities USA Action (pro-Barack Obama)
• $125,000 to Iowans for Intergrity in Leadership (pro-Democratic)
• $100,000 to Fair Share Action (pro-Democratic)
• $100,000 to Patriot Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $100,000 Committee to Elect an Effective Valley Congressman (pro-Howard Berman)
• $54,900 to Working for Us PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $50,000 to The American Worker (pro-Democratic)
• $50,000 to Sierra Club Independent Action (pro-environment)
• $50,000 to Ohio Families United (pro-Democratic)
• $42,500 to Defend Our Homes (pro-Democratic)
• $10,000 to Protecting America's Retirees (union-aligned)
• $8,650 to Connecticut's Future PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $5,000 to Young Democrats of America (pro-Democratic)

Notable federal hard money and 527 contributions:

• $3 million to Priorities USA Action (pro-Barack Obama)
• $1.05 million to House Majority PAC (pro-Democratic), all of which came from his wife Amber Mostyn
• $500,000 to Majority PAC (pro-Democratic)
• $425,000 to Texans for America’s Future (pro-Democratic), all of which came via Mostyn's firm's corporate treasury
• $200,000 to Planned Parenthood (pro-Democratic), all of which came from Amber Mostyn

• $151,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (since 2008)
• $400,000 to the Democratic Governors Association to boost former Houston Mayor Bill White’s unsuccessful gubernatorial run against Gov. Rick Perry (2010)

• $1.36 million to Democrats in state House and Senate districts (2010)
• $1 million to House Democratic Caucus of Texas (since 2009)