Which Democratic candidates has George Soros personally donated to or funded through Open Society Foundations?
Executive summary
George Soros has given large personal donations to Democratic causes and to super PACs that then funded Democratic campaigns (for example, a reported $170 million to Democratic candidates in 2022 and a $125 million gift to Democracy PAC II in 2022) and his Open Society network has routed hundreds of millions more to groups that supported Democratic-aligned efforts (e.g., $140 million from an OSF-linked nonprofit in 2021) [1] [2] [3]. Open Society Foundations itself says it funds nonpartisan civic and election integrity work and does not give directly to candidates or parties; outside spending for elections has mainly flowed through affiliated nonprofits and super PACs that Soros or his vehicles funded [4] [5] [2].
1. What Soros personally donated — a list by mechanism, not a roster of names
Public reporting and filings show two channels: direct individual gifts to Democratic committees and campaigns, and very large donations to super PACs and Soros-controlled nonprofits that in turn supported Democrats. Journalistic and tax-filing reporting says Soros “personally donated $170 million during the 2022 midterms to Democratic candidates and campaigns” and that he made a reported $125 million initial donation to Democracy PAC II in 2022 [3] [2]. OpenSecrets maintains searchable donor records for Soros and Soros Fund Management that list individual federal and state recipients; those records are the primary place to find names and dollar amounts of individual candidate recipients [6] [7].
2. Open Society Foundations: grants vs. direct campaign contributions
Open Society Foundations (OSF) states that it funds nonpartisan civic engagement, election administration, litigation and democracy-strengthening work and that “we do not support political parties or candidates” [4] [8]. OSF and its affiliates are grantmakers; US tax rules prevent a 501(c) from directly funding partisan campaigns, and OpenSecrets notes “organizations themselves cannot contribute to candidates and party committees” [5]. That means most reporting about Soros-style political influence relies on funds he gave personally or to super PACs/501(c)s inside his network, rather than grants from the core foundation directly to candidates [5] [2].
3. Examples reported in news coverage: state and local races
Local press has traced Soros-funded flows into state contests. For example, reporting in Wisconsin shows Soros gave multiple millions to the state Democratic Party which then routed money to the winner of a state Supreme Court race; one local story reported a $2 million donation to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin that was transferred to a candidate [9] [10]. National outlets have documented Soros’ spending on district attorney races and other local prosecutor contests — the Washington Post reported Soros “has spent tens of millions of dollars swinging dozens of district attorney races” via independent committees and affiliated groups [11].
4. The “dark money” and intermediary argument — documented flows and disputes
Investigations and tax filings show Soros’ donations often flow through intermediaries: the Open Society Policy Center and other network nonprofits, super PACs like Democracy PAC/Democracy PAC II, and outside groups that then spent on voter mobilization or ads that benefited Democratic candidates [2] [1] [3]. CNBC and philanthropy reporting documented roughly $140 million in OSPC grants in 2021 to political groups and said Soros also “personally donated $170 million” in 2022 — framing a pattern where personal gifts plus network grants created substantial resources for Democratic-aligned efforts [1] [3]. OSF disputes that its core grantmaking is partisan and emphasizes public disclosure of grants supporting civic processes [4] [8].
5. Where to find itemized names of Democratic candidates who received money
OpenSecrets’ donor-lookup and the OpenSecrets organizational profiles for Soros, Soros Fund Management and Open Society Foundations are the authoritative, publicly searchable sources for itemized recipient lists and amounts for federal and reported state-level contributions [6] [12] [7]. News outlets have used FEC filings and tax documents to name specific recipients in high-profile cases (e.g., Wisconsin state transfers and DA races) but comprehensive, up-to-date candidate-by-candidate lists are available through donor databases rather than single news stories [9] [11].
6. Limitations, competing claims, and what sources do not say
Available sources show large personal donations by Soros and extensive grantmaking by OSF-linked nonprofits, but they do not provide a single authoritative public list compiled within these documents naming every Democratic candidate Soros ever personally funded; Open Society’s public statements stress nonpartisan grantmaking and legal limits on direct candidate funding by foundations [4] [5]. Some reporting treats funds routed through Soros-controlled nonprofits as effectively supporting Democrats; Open Society and some defenders say much of that spending supports nonpartisan civic infrastructure and election integrity [8] [4]. For claims beyond these documents—such as exhaustive lists of individual candidates receiving Soros’ personal checks—available sources do not mention a complete roster in one place.
If you want, I can run the OpenSecrets donor-lookup and produce a candidate-by-candidate list (with citation lines to the exact OpenSecrets pages) showing named Democratic recipients and amounts based on FEC disclosures.