One of the biggest individual campaign contributors during the 2000 election cycle was Charles Kushner, a New Jersey real estate developer relatively unknown outside the Garden State—unless you are running for office, that is.
In a four-part series, the Bergen Record profiles Kushner and tracks the influence of one of the most elaborate campaign check bundling operations of any recent election cycle. (link below)
The Record reports that Kushner, his family and his businesses have contributed at least $3 million to candidates and parties in and outside New Jersey over the last five years. That includes at least $1 million to candidates on the federal level during 1999-2000, most of which went to Democrats. It does not include the tens of thousands of dollars Kushner and his family have directed to other political causes, including New Jersey Sen. Robert Torricelli's Legal Defense Fund.
But it's not only Democrats that benefit from Kushner's money. In 1999, the developer held a fund-raiser to benefit then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's bid for the U.S. Senate. But much of the $100,000 raised at the event was ultimately returned because of violations of federal election law.
Most recently, Kushner was appointed to the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, one of the groups that will determine the future of the World Trade Center site. He was appointed to that board by New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey (D), who has taken more than $1.5 million in contributions from Kushner and his associates since 1999.
URL to report on Kushner's donation bundling (place in your browser):
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?level_3_id=18&page=3895103