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Dan Snyder Gave Jeb Bush’s PAC $100,000

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Photograph of Snyder courtesy Washington Redskins. Photograph of Bush by Rich Koele via Shutterstock.

Political action committees are filing their quarterly reports with the Federal Elections Commission, and an early glance at the first batch of statements reveals that many of Washington’s right-leaning, bold-faced names have made their presidential preferences, and perhaps none bigger than the owner of the local NFL franchise.

Dan Snyder donated $100,000 to Right to Rise PAC, which is aligned with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, according to FEC reports filed Friday. The donation not surprising considering Snyder’s past political giving, which has tended to favor Republicans. In 2012, he gave $5,000 to Republican nominee Mitt Romney, $10,000 to the Virginia GOP, and $5,000 to former Senator (and friend-of-the-team) George Allen, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He also gave $5,200 to Democratic Senator Mark Warner’s 2014 re-election campaign.

Snyder is the only local sports baron who’s contributed to any of the PACs that have filed so far, but he joins many local cash cows in contributing to Right to Rise, which reports raising $103 million in the first half of 2015. Real-estate developer Joseph B. Gildenhorn (you may be able to figure out which firm) put in $25,000, former Solicitor General Ted Olson gave $25,000, car-dealership magnate Robert Ourisman contributed $15,000, and defense attorney Brendan V. Sullivan, Jr. gave $2,500.

While Right to Rise’s total haul dwarfs those of PACs supporting other Republican candidates, its receipts also show that, at least within the Washington area, Bush is far ahead of any of his rivals. Organizations backing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie each had a few DC-area contributions, but none with the kind of wattage as many of Bush’s backers.

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Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.