Kyrsten Sinema Is The Financial Industry's Favorite Senator

Donors at Blackstone, the Carlyle Group, and other investment firms have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Sinema’s leadership PAC, which has been spending on upscale events and private flights.

by David Moore, Sludge

After preserving a tax benefit for investment managers last year, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) continues to rely on investment industry donors as she faces a Democratic challenger in a possible 2024 re-election campaign.

In the second quarter this year, private equity, hedge fund, and venture capital executives streamed dozens of four-figure donations to Sinema’s campaign, joint fundraising committee, and leadership PAC. Several donors with private equity giant Blackstone topped up their donations to Sinema, with at least six more giving a total of $6,600 each, including A.J. Agarwal, a senior managing director in the firm’s real estate group. Tens of thousands of dollars of Sinema’s second quarter haul came from donors who work at the investment firms Montgomery Capital, First Atlantic LLC, Crescent Capital Group, and TPG Capital.

A handful of large donations from employees of the Boston-based private equity firm Advent International, totaling $23,000, were received by Sinema’s joint fundraising committee within a one week period in April, including from David Mussafer, the company’s chairman and managing partner. Other donations in the second quarter to Sinema came from Amir Goldman of private equity company Susquehanna Growth Equity, John Connaughton of Bain Capital, and James Burr, managing director at the Carlyle Group.