Adelsons pump $25 million into Senate midterm races, topping GOP donors

Donation to super PAC aligned with Mitch McConnell comes after slinging $30 million to Paul Ryan super PAC for House races

Sheldon Adelson and Miriam Adelson at the ceremony marking the establishment of a new Faculty of Medicine at Ariel University in the West Bank, on August 19, 2018. (Ben Dori/Flash90)
Sheldon Adelson and Miriam Adelson at the ceremony marking the establishment of a new Faculty of Medicine at Ariel University in the West Bank, on August 19, 2018. (Ben Dori/Flash90)

American Jewish billionaires Sheldon and Miriam Adelson have reportedly given $25 million to a super PAC dedicated to supporting Senate Republicans ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The Washington Post cited Federal Election Commission records filed Monday evening showing the Adelsons gave their donation to the Senate Leadership Fund, a political action committee aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky working to retain the Republican majority in the November elections.

The latest donation reportedly brings the couple’s contribution for the current election cycle to at least $55 million, following a $30 million donation in May to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, which supports GOP House candidates, making them the biggest donors to the midterm election campaigns.

The Adelsons have been among the largest donors to the Republican party for the last three elections. They gave $25 million to help US President Donald Trump defeat his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton just before the 2016 elections in what was described as a “massive” amount of money to be spent in the final week of the campaign.

The Republican Party faces an uphill battle to retain control of the House, though its slim majority in the Senate is considered safer, as Democrats face several tough races to retain seats in states that heavily favored Trump.

The Adelsons are also prominent donors to Jewish and Israeli causes. On Sunday, they attended the opening of Ariel University’s new medical school in the West Bank, which they financed.

Ariel University faces a boycott from various academics abroad and its professors have even lamented discrimination by other universities within Israel, who they say refuse to recognize its legitimacy due to its location in the West Bank.

Ariel University, located in the city-settlement of Ariel in the central West Bank, plans to double in size (currently 15,000 students) within the next five years, according to a plan promoted by Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

The Adelsons, longtime supporters of West Bank settlement projects, will provide roughly $20 million for the major expansion. Part of the project, which includes an additional 10 to 12 facilities, was the construction of the four-year medical school named after the couple.

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