Over the last two weeks, more than two dozen major campaign donors to Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown have been scrambling to hedge their bets.
At least 14 donors who once backed Whitman have donated $5,000 or more to Brown's campaign since Oct. 14, perhaps owing to her recent decline in the polls. An additional 11 Brown donors have given at least $5,000 to Whitman, and a handful have donated to both candidates, secure in the fact that no matter what happens, their money will be backing a winner.
Among the donors who have jumped to the Brown camp since mid-October are tech billionaire Marc Benioff, Los Angeles First Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner and a number of large corporations, including PepsiCo, Disney and alcohol distribution conglomerate Diageo.
Benioff, the CEO of web-based business software provider Salesforce.com, gave Whitman $10,000 when her campaign was just gearing up in April 2009. He followed that up with a donation of $25,900 – the legal maximum – to Brown last week.
Beutner gave $5,000 to Whitman in June 2009 before giving Brown $25,900 of his own this month. It wouldn't be the first time Beutner gave to both sides of the aisle – federal contribution records show that he contributed to both Republicans and Democrats in the 2008 elections as well.
Large corporations like PepsiCo, AT&T, PricewaterhouseCoopers and others also gave to both candidates, but such behavior is hardly unusual. Large organizations regularly give to both parties, presumably because it ensures that they support the winning candidate.
We took a quick look at donors who have dropped large sums within the last couple weeks after supporting the other candidate earlier in the election cycle. Here's what we came up with:
| DONOR | FIRST GAVE TO | ON … | AMOUNT | THEN GAVE TO | ON … | AMOUNT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marc Benioff | Meg Whitman | 4/29/09 | $10,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/26/10 | $25,900 |
| Donald Ramsbottom | Meg Whitman | 6/4/09 | $5,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/26/10 | $7,500 |
| Robert Beyer | Meg Whitman | 2/25/10 | $5,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/23/10 | $10,000 |
| Diageo | Meg Whitman | 10/4/10 | $15,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/22/10 | $12,295.66 |
| AT&T California PAC | Meg Whitman | 6/1/10 | $25,900 | Jerry Brown | 10/22/10 | $25,900 |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers | Meg Whitman | 9/10/10 | $5,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/21/10 | $5,000 |
| Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians | Meg Whitman | 4/26/10, 9/24/10 | $20,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/20/10 | $15,900 |
| PepsiCo | Meg Whitman | 7/13/10 | $5,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/18/10 | $10,000 |
| Austin Beutner | Meg Whitman | 6/23/09 | $5,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/18/10 | $25,900 |
| Golden State Water Co. | Meg Whitman | 9/25/10 | $25,900 | Jerry Brown | 10/17/10 | $10,000 |
| Nextera Energy Resources | Meg Whitman | 9/17/10 | $5,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/16/10 | $15,900 |
| Disney Worldwide Services Inc | Meg Whitman | 10/13/10 | $25,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/16/10 | $25,000 |
| Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP | Meg Whitman | 9/24/10 | $10,000 | Jerry Brown | 10/14/10 | $8,000 |
| California Rice PAC | Jerry Brown | 1/18/10 | $5,000 | Meg Whitman | 10/22/10 | $5,000 |
| John Gurley | Jerry Brown | 9/1/10 | $1,000 | Meg Whitman | 10/21/10 | $25,900 |
| Tom Gores | Jerry Brown | 3/15/10 | $1,000 | Meg Whitman | 10/20/10 | $25,000 |
| Thaddeus Taube | Jerry Brown | 3/22/10 | $1,000 | Meg Whitman | 10/19/10 | $10,000 |
| Time Warner Cable | Jerry Brown | 3/10/10, 10/15/10 | $32,900 | Meg Whitman | 10/18/10 | $25,900 |
| Diane Wilsey | Jerry Brown | Various dates | $51,800 | Meg Whitman | 10/15/10 | $25,900 |
| David Ingram | Jerry Brown | 3/10/10 | $3,000 | Meg Whitman | 10/15/10 | $25,900 |
| Barona Band of Mission Indians | Jerry Brown | 5/4/10, 9/30/10 | $51,800 | Meg Whitman | 10/14/10 | $25,900 |
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