Real estate money is a tricky subject for Democrats. On one hand, some of Donald Trump’s policies encouraged the normally Republican-leaning industry to spread cash around to Democrats as well—in particular, Trump’s feud with China put a damper on property sales to Chinese buyers, and the GOP’s elimination of the deduction for state and local taxes hurt realtors in expensive coastal markets, since those blue states and cities usually have considerable SALT fees.
But at the same time, at least some Democrats are wary of the real estate industry, which is regarded skeptically by progressives who aren’t fond of landlords or developers. At the state and local level, the industry lobbies against rent regulation; at the national level, its top issues are maintaining prospective homebuyers’ access to credit and protecting the mortgage interest deduction, a subsidy long opposed by reformers.
Even as some lawmakers in New York have sworn off real estate donations, others are happy to keep cashing those checks. And because the industry’s interests don’t map exactly onto partisan conflict (Democrats want to bring back the SALT deduction Republicans wiped out, even if they also support rent regulation), it’s likely that real estate contributors will continue to have some kind of sway among Democrats.
Most real estate firms and their employees spread donations between the two parties (the top trade group, the National Association of Realtors, splits its contributions nearly 50/50). There are a few outliers that funnel most of their money into liberal causes and Democratic candidates, normally as a result of one or two extremely rich people who run these companies being major Democratic donors.
Marcus & Millichap
The big donor here is George M. Marcus, a billionaire philanthropist and heavy hitter in Democratic circles. (More than 90 percent of the firm’s donations came from him.) He hosted fundraisers for Joe Biden during the 2020 primaries and has contributed well north of $13 million this cycle to a collection of major Democratic PACs. These include the House Majority PAC ($3 million), the Senate Majority PAC ($4 million), Priorities USA Action ($3 million) and American Bridge 21st Century ($1 million).
Simon Property Group
A major operator of shopping malls in the US, this firm was founded by two brothers, Melvin and Herbert Simon, whose family constitutes one of the most powerful dynasties in Indianapolis. Melvin died in 2009, and his daughters Deborah Simon and Cynthia Simon Skjodt, longtime opponents of former Indiana governor Mike Pence, have donated huge amounts of money to Democrats—$12 million in 2018, and more than $20 million in 2020. This includes millions to general-purpose progressive PACs like American Bridge 21st Century; but it also includes hefty donations to issue-based groups: Simon gave $2 million to Planned Parenthood Votes in 2020, while Simon Skjodt donated $750,000 to the Everytown for Gun Safety Victory Fund.
Though the Simon sisters are major donors, they don’t technically count as part of Simon Property Group for FEC purposes. Richard Solokov, a board member who lives in Ohio, does count, and he donated over $10,000 to Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan in 2020, constituting a large chunk of the firm’s political giving. Herbert Simon, who also owns the Indiana Pacers, remains active in politics as well, but his giving is bipartisan: He gave thousands to most of the prominent Democratic Senate candidates, but he also gave $50,000 to Republican Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb and $10,000 to the state GOP in 2019.
Pilot House Associates
This is technically a real estate firm but it’s really just the office of Amos Hostetter, a billionaire who is somewhere around the 500th wealthiest person in the world. He’s a major donor to dozens of Democrats, mainly on the moderate side of the spectrum, and also supported numerous Super PACS. Among Hostetter’s 2020 cycle gifts are $500,000 to American Bridge 21st Century, $750,000 to Unite the Country, $200,000 to the anti-Trump Republican group the Lincoln Project, $350,000 to the House Majority PAC, $325,000 to the Senate Majority PAC, and $250,000 to the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund.
Stream Line Circle LLC
Another company whose donations all come from a single donor, this New York firm is run by Jon Stryker, an architect who is the heir to the Stryker medical supply fortune. Stryker pumps a lot of money to Democrats, and in the 2020 cycle alone, he gave $1.2 million to the House Majority PAC, over $1 million to the Senate Majority PAC, $250,000 to the Human Rights Campaign's GOTV effort and around $500,000 the DCCC.
The presence of Democratic mega-donors in the real estate industry doesn't say much about the industry as a whole, other than that it's a way for some people to amass large amounts of wealth. At least a few of these wealthy individuals are personally liberal and that seems to guide their political giving. Donations to groups like Planned Parenthood or the HRC aren't the sort of transactional gifts rich donors make when they are trying to buy access. It's more likely that the names on this list are donating heavily to progressive candidates and organizations because they share the same ideology.
At the same time, the real estate industry as a whole has a habit of standing in the way of progressive goals when they conflict with its bottom line. (Real estate interests have defeated multiple rent control-related ballot initiatives in California, for instance.) But when PACs need money, they can't afford not to take it from these sources.
