Citizens Requited

almost $13 million came from Preston Hollow, Dallas                    Google Maps

It should not be news that running a political campaign has become an increasingly money-driven affair. What might be news in this presidential campaign, though, is that almost half the $176 million given to the candidates so far has come from just 158 families (and the companies they own or control). Who they are might also come as a surprise, because, while some fit the expected mold, many do not. "Relatively few work in the traditional ranks of corporate America, or hail from dynasties of inherited wealth," according to a New York Times investigation. "Most built their own businesses, parlaying talent and an appetite for risk into huge wealth: They founded hedge funds in New York, bought up undervalued oil leases in Texas, made blockbusters in Hollywood. More than a dozen of the elite donors were born outside the United States, immigrating from countries like Cuba, the old Soviet Union, Pakistan, India and Israel." And wherever they're from and however they got to where they are, "the families investing the most in presidential politics overwhelmingly lean right" (story, link to list of families): http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/11/us/politics/2016-presidential-election-super-pac-donors.html?_r=0