Which Democratic presidential candidates received direct donations from george soros personally?
Executive summary
Available records in the provided reporting show George Soros has given personal, itemized donations to Joe Biden (more than $500,000 in 2020) and gave large sums directly into super PACs and nonprofit conduits (for example, a $60 million transfer from a Soros-founded fund to Democracy PAC) that then supported many Democrats [1] [2] [3]. Open-source campaign‑finance databases such as OpenSecrets are cited as primary places to trace individual contributions and recipients [4] [5].
1. What “direct donations” mean in the Soros context
“Direct” can mean a personal check to a candidate or a donation from a Soros‑controlled nonprofit to a super PAC that backs candidates. Reporting distinguishes Soros’s personal, itemized donations (individual checks reported to the FEC) from large infusions routed through his foundations or family‑run PACs such as Democracy PAC and the Fund for Policy Reform — the latter are major vehicles for Soros’s political spending and are described in FEC filings and news accounts [3] [2] [6].
2. Documented personal donations to presidential campaigns
Multiple outlets and campaign‑finance summaries report Soros personally contributed more than $500,000 to Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign and made individual contributions and joint‑fundraising payments in prior cycles (including Ready for Hillary/Hillary Victory Fund activity) — these are recorded in FEC and aggregated sources cited by Ballotpedia and other reporting [1]. The sources indicate Soros has also “maxed out” small, itemized contributions in later cycles (noted in local reporting) but provide no exhaustive list of every individual Democratic presidential candidate he has personally written a check to [1] [7].
3. Large-scale giving routed through Soros‑linked groups
For 2024 and prior cycles, the largest sums tied to Soros came through nonprofits and super PACs he founded or funded. Bloomberg and FactCheck report a roughly $60 million donation from a Soros‑funded nonprofit to Democracy PAC, and filings show Democracy PAC then distributed tens of millions to other Democratic‑aligned super PACs and groups [2] [3]. These transfers are disclosed but do not equate to direct, personal donations to individual presidential campaigns [3] [2].
4. Who received money because of Soros’s network (versus from Soros personally)
Reporting shows Democracy PAC and related vehicles directed funds to major Democratic infrastructure groups — e.g., Senate Majority PAC, House Majority PAC, Planned Parenthood Votes, and Black PAC — and those groups in turn support candidates down‑ballot and for higher office [2] [3] [8]. These are traceable downstream effects of Soros’s giving but are not the same as Soros personally cutting checks to specific presidential campaigns [2] [3].
5. The limits of the available sources on “which candidates”
Available reporting in the provided material documents Soros’s personal donations to Joe Biden in 2020 and itemized small contributions in subsequent cycles, and it details the major sums channeled through Soros‑funded PACs [1] [2] [3]. The supplied sources do not provide a comprehensive, candidate‑by‑candidate list of every Democratic presidential hopeful who received a personal, itemized donation from Soros; for that granular, up‑to‑date ledger the sources point readers to donor lookup tools like OpenSecrets and FEC filings [4] [5].
6. Competing perspectives and why the distinction matters
Some outlets frame Soros as the architect of direct influence because his nonprofits fund groups that pour money into campaigns; others emphasize the difference between personal contributions and institutional giving. FactCheck and Bloomberg stress that Democracy PAC is primarily funded by the Fund for Policy Reform (a Soros vehicle) which then gives to many committees — a chain that shows influence but not a person‑to‑candidate donation [3] [2]. Analysts and critics often conflate the two; campaign‑finance records separate individual donor reports from committee transfers [3] [4].
7. Bottom line and where to look next
If your question is strictly “which Democratic presidential candidates received personal, itemized donations from George Soros,” the provided reporting confirms Joe Biden as a documented recipient (more than $500,000 in 2020) and indicates smaller itemized contributions in later cycles, but it does not list other presidential candidates who received direct checks from Soros; for a definitive, candidate‑by‑candidate inventory consult FEC filings or OpenSecrets donor lookup tools referenced in the reporting [1] [4] [5]. If your concern is about Soros’s electoral influence broadly, the largest, well‑documented lever is his funding of Democracy PAC and related entities that distributed tens of millions to Democratic committees and causes [2] [3].