With the Nov. 8 midterm election just days away, Democrats are fighting to hang onto their majorities in the House and Senate, with help from Hollywood — both in terms of campaign donations and high-profile endorsements (like Oprah Winfrey’s backing of Democrat John Fetterman over her TV protégé Dr. Mehmet Oz in the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania.)
Hollywood politicians have been involved for months in raising money to support the Democrats. OpenSecrets.org shows that people from the television/movies/music industries donated more than $2.6million to candidates this year.
However, Recent pollsKey U.S. House of Representative races are tilting in favor of Republicans, but the U.S. Senate remains very much up for grabs.
Here are some of the races on the Industry’s radar:
PENNSYLVANIA
All eyes are on Pennsylvania as the Senate race heats up. A new poll shows Republican Oz leading the race against Democratic Lieutenant Gov. by 47.6% and 45.8%, respectively. John Fetterman.
Fetterman had a narrow lead until his debate performance October 25, when he struggled communicating his answers to some debate questions. After the debate, a new poll showed that Pennsylvania voters favored Oz for the first-ever time in the race. It shows that they have a 1.8% advantage.
Recently, Kerry WashingtonAnd John LegendTwitter users shared videos expressing support for Fetterman. Fetterman has received close to $337,000 in entertainment industry donations this season. Keven Humane and Marta Kauffman were among the donors.
“After growing up in a working class family in Ohio, I moved to Philadelphia for college,”Legend made the statement in his video endorsement. “And some of those open mic nights around town helped me start my music career. Pennsylvania and our entire country need John Fetterman.”
He said: “Our nation is at a turning point. We can’t afford to sit this one out.”
GEORGIA
According to Federal Elections Commission records, U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock raised $112,000,000, with $8.72 Million from California donors, to support his re-election campaign against Republican challenger Hershel Walk.
Georgia Democrat is also leading the charge in donations from Hollywood, with almost $1 million raised by high-profile Hollywood donors like JJ Abrams and Norman Messing, Debra Messing and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Warnock, who also serves as senior pastor at Martin Luther King Jr.’s Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, has raised a total of $112 million, thanks largely to out-of-state contributions. (He’s raised about $5 million in Georgia.)
Walker, a Georgia football hero, has raised approximately $32million and leads the polls in this predominantly blue state.
OHIO
Hollywood loves an underdog story. Throw in a modern theme of battling a pro-Trump Republican election denier, and that’s a script that will get some financial support. Many big names in entertainment see U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan as a potential hero, especially in his quest to replace retiring Republican Rob Portman in the red-hot Ohio Senate.
Ryan is only slightly behind loyal Donald Trump defender J.D. Ryan is only slightly behind J.D., the loyal Donald Trump defender. “Hillbilly Elegy.”FiveThirtyEight.com says he is a slut. Vance trails by 3 percentagePoints in the most recent polls.
In a recent trip to woo influential supporters in Hollywood and Los Angeles, Ryan held a fundraiser at UTA super agent Jay Sures’ Westside house. Sures, recently promoted to the position of vice chairman and board member at United Talent Agency, told that the Ohio race is probably “the most important senate race where the Democrats can pick up a seat.”
NEVADA
U.S. senator Catherine Cortez Masto has lost to Republican challenger Adam Laxalt, in what is perhaps the most closely matched race in the country. Laxalt’s position of banning abortions within 13 weeks of gestation has received strong support from Republicans.
Cortez Masto has received about $5.3 million from California donors, roughly twice the $2.7 million donated by Nevada restidents. Her recent rally in North Las Vegas included appearances by former Pres. Barack Obama, John Legend.
Total spending by both candidates of $176 million has made this the most expensive campaign ever held in Nevada, according to AdImpact, a media-tracking firm.
Other financial supporters of Cortez Masto include Seth MacFarlane, Steven Spielberg, Ari Emanuel, J.J. Abrams, Kate Capshaw, Katie McGrath, Patrick Whitesell, and Rob Reiner.
SOUTH DAKOTA
Sometimes, even Hollywood’s liberals support a Republican.
U.S. Sen. John Thune, who holds a double-digit lead over Democrat Brian Bengs to win re-election in South Dakota, has received $117,500 in donations from the entertainment industry’s key political action committees.
As a ranking member of the Senate’s influential subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet, Thune is a big proponent of developing 5G broadband access across America — a big deal for the all-important streaming industry.
Thune has received increasing campaign contributions from the CBS Corporation PAC, Walt Disney Production Employees PAC, and the Motion Picture Assn., Twenty-First Century FOX PAC, Clear Channel Communications PAC, Discovery Communications PAC, and iHeartMedia, Inc.
“Movies have the power to transport us to far-flung corners of the world and put us in someone else’s shoes,” Thune said in an online message posted for the MPA’s 100-year anniversary. “The vast beauty of South Dakota has been well documented in movies and TV shows through the years.”
