The super PAC supporting Democrat Andrew Yang’s mayoral campaign in New York City has been funded almost exclusively by finance industry executives who have donated tens of millions of dollars to super PACs that supported President Trump and other national Republicans, according to records from the New York Board of Elections.
While nearly all of the leading Democratic mayoral candidates are participating in the New York City public campaign financing program, including Yang, super PACs are still allowed to spend independently in support of their campaigns. Ahead of the June 22 primary, the pro-Yang Comeback PAC released its first ad today.
The super PAC’s first contributor was right-wing billionaire Jeff Yass, co-founder of investment firm Susquehanna International Group, who donated $500,000 on May 7. Yass told Politico he is backing Yang for the candidate’s support of charter schools.
A board member of the libertarian Cato Institute and the second-highest donor last cycle at $21 million to the anti-union Club for Growth Action, Yass was also the major funder behind the Protect Freedom PAC, with $8.6 million given, which supported the campaigns of House Republicans Madison Cawthorn and Lauren Boebert. Club for Growth Action spent more than $13 million supporting the re-election of President Trump in the 2019-20 election cycle.
