Posted on 12/04/2014 6:46:18 PM PST by Coleus
If Governor Christie does decide to run for president, he’s already locked up one of the most prolific fundraisers in Republican presidential politics. Ken Langone, 79, is the billionaire founder of Home Depot whose willingness to back Christie for president not only creates the possibility of millions of dollars in donations but also the potential to block possible rivals by keeping them from adding this powerful ally. “I’ll do everything I can do to help get him elected,” Langone said in a recent interview. “Whatever he asks me to do, I’ll do. I’m particularly good at fundraising, so I suspect I’ll spend a lot of time fundraising.”
Langone has been pressing Christie to run for president for years and he’s been raising money for Republican presidential candidates for decades, going back to George H.W. Bush to Bob Dole to Rudolph Giuliani. Along the way, Langone gathered headlines and is not shy about sharing his sharp opinions — the latest involved invoking Hitler to chastise those criticizing income inequality. “If we had done as well in votes as we had done in fundraising, I’d be the president now,” Giuliani said in a telephone interview last week, reflecting back on his short-lived candidacy in 2008 that ended after a disastrous showing in the Florida primary. Though Giuliani’s time on the ballot was short, Langone helped him raise the most of any of the GOP candidates that year, despite the fact that Giuliani dropped out with many primaries left on the presidential agenda.
Only Bush won an election with Langone’s help, but Langone’s fundraising stature increased each time, thanks to his growing political Rolodex of wealthy friends and associates. His connections reached to Wall Street (he was on the board of the New York Stock Exchange), the medical industry (he has invested heavily in medical start-ups) and charitable foundations (he contributes to Ronald McDonald House, the Harlem Children’s Zone and Robin Hood Foundation). “There are many great fundraisers, maybe there are a few that are equal to him, but there’s nobody better than him,” Giuliani said, adding that even when he was 27 points behind in 1989, during his first bid for the New York mayoralty, Langone raised millions for him.
As a fundraiser, Langone works as a “bundler” — the person who collects the donations from others who give campaign money, whether that comes at events he hosts or those he organizes. The word “bundler” comes from a time when checks were stacked in an actual bundle and handed over to the campaigns. People who know him say Langone, who is bald but for a ring of stark white hair and often makes strong gestures with his hands, can be incessant to the point of arm-twisting when he’s passionate about a candidate.
In 2011 Langone brought together an exclusive group of influential Republicans and donors — including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger — to try to persuade Christie to run in 2012. Christie was quoted at the time as saying he didn’t intend to run but went to the meeting anyway because Langone was so aggressive about it.
Earlier this year Langone hosted an event for Christie in Florida that drew several hundred donors. “I wanted him to meet my friends,” Langone said. “I wanted my friends to meet him and get to know him. It went extremely well, extremely well. He was very impressive.” It’s difficult to quantify the financial impact Langone has had on campaigns.
These days people can contribute to candidates in many ways. Individuals can give a maximum of $2,600 to a presidential primary campaign, then another $2,600 to a general election campaign. Donors can give a maximum of $34,200 to national party accounts and there’s a $5,000 yearly limit on donations to political action committees. Super PACs have no limits, and in some cases donors can avoid having their identity disclosed.
Not only does Langone donate directly to candidates and political groups like the Republican National Committee and taps others for support, he also contributes to issue-oriented non-profit groups that do not have to disclose their contributions such as the American Action Network, a group that reportedly spent $25 million in the 2010 elections to promote right-wing causes.
And each one of those donations — and those dinners, events and other meetings — add to the goodwill that helps build Langone’s network of connections and influence. Christie has told his staff and potential donors that if he does run for president, he won’t leave the governor’s office. That raises a fundraising issue for the governor because of federal Securities and Exchange Commission rules that prohibit employees of financial firms that do business, or may seek to do business, with a state government from donating to a sitting governor.
If Christie runs, he stands to benefit from political action committees and issues-based non-profits, which do not face the same SEC prohibitions and can accept money from the financial sector and spend it on efforts in support of the governor. But Langone said Christie has nothing to worry about and he’ll help him raise the necessary funds to launch a formidable campaign. Indeed, Giuliani said that Langone is passionate about the candidates he supports and brings with him a level of enthusiasm that can elevate a campaign and build morale during difficult moments.
“He’s not in it out of special interest, he’s in it out of general interest which is very, very refreshing,” Giuliani said, calling Langone a “tough guy,” someone who “when he makes up his mind, he makes up his mind.” Though much of his fundraising occurs behind closed doors, Langone has also found himself in public controversies. This year, for example, in an interview with Politico, he raised concerns about rhetoric against the wealthy ahead of the 2016 election, comparing it to “what Hilter was saying about Germany.” After the interview was published, he issued an apology. “My remarks were intended to discourage pitting one group against another group in a society,” Langone’s statement said. “If my choice of words was inappropriate — and they well may have been that — I extend my profound apologies to anyone and everyone who I may have offended.”
Langone was born in Roslyn Heights, a small community in New York’s Nassau County, his father was a plumber and his mother a cafeteria worker. He studied economics and business at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He is well-known for his charitable contributions — giving $200 million to NYU Medical Center in 2008, which was then renamed for Langone and his wife, Elaine. Langone is chairman of the medical center’s board and was chairman last year of its annual fundraising gala — the Violet Ball at Cipriani in Manhattan. Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, attended that gala.
Langone met Christie through the governor’s brother Todd, an experienced Wall Street trader who works as a director and business development executive at Ernst & Young. Langone donated $2,000 to Christie’s first run for governor. When Christie ran for reelection last year, Langone and his wife each donated the maximum $3,800 to Christie’s primary and general election campaign funds. Langone has also given to the New Jersey Republican State Committee, $25,000 in 2010 and $10,000 in 2011. “I was a very, very big fan of his style and his effectiveness when he was U.S. attorney,” Langone said. “He got a lot done and he’s a very direct guy and very forthright, and I found him refreshing in the political arena.”
Langone publicly — and at times colorfully — sparred with Eliot Spitzer when Spitzer was New York’s attorney general. As head of the compensation committee of the New York Stock Exchange board, Langone approved a nearly $140 million deferred compensation package for Richard Grasso, chairman of the exchange. Spitzer filed a civil lawsuit seeking repayment of the money, arguing the package was too large to be awarded by the stock exchange, which operates as a non-profit company. The case was eventually dismissed in 2008 when an appeals court ruled the exchange was essentially a for-profit entity. When Spitzer ran for governor in 2006, Langone — despite primarily backing Republicans — supported his Democratic primary opponent, Tom Souzzi, then the Nassau County executive.
Langone was public in his reaction to Spitzer’s resignation as governor after acknowledging that he had sex with a prostitute. “We all have our own private hells,” Langone said on CNBC at the time and added, “I hope his private hell is hotter than anybody else’s.” Langone also said in that interview that he knew before the resignation that Spitzer was sending money to a prostitute before because he happened to “know somebody who was standing in back of him in line” at a post office while the governor was said to be sending payments. These days Langone is as passionate about Christie as he was about candidates he supported in the past. “I like the fact that he addresses issues directly and unequivocally,” Langone said. “I think it’s time for the American people to not be doubled-talked but to hear the truth and hear solutions for problems we have to address.”
Christie is the perfect VP candidate....for Hillary.
It's the only way he can win.
Ken Langone can support anyone he likes. I also think he should be allowed to spend as much as he desires on his favorite candidate. Any candidate from dog catcher to President.
I still will not vote for Chris Christie under any circumstance.
Never again will I vote for “the lesser of two evils” or any other Democrat Lite.
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