Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2019-05-27)

Bloomberg Businessweek May 2 7, 2019

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EricGelmanand

PatRegnier

○ Bigddoonnoorrssssaayycanddiiidddaaattteeesss—

exceptSandersandWarrenn—aarree

dropping by for lunch andmoney

InFebruary, Pete Buttigieg stepped into the

Manhattanofficeof WallStreetveteran Charles

Myerstotalkpoliticsoverdeli sandwiches.Citigroup

Inc.ManagingDirectorYannCoatanlemhosteda

fundraiserinMarchfor KamalaHarrisat hisFifth

Avenueapartment,wheresheshookthepawof

thebanker’slabradoodle.Threedays later,former

GoldmanSachs GroupInc.partnerBruceHeyman

raisedmorethan$100,000forAmyKlobucharat

hishomeinChicago.He’splanninganeventforJoe

Bidenthisfall.

Themayorof South Bend, Ind., the senatorsfrom

CaCaCalililifofofornrnrniaiaiaaaandnddMMMiinnesota,ananddththeeexe -vvicicepresident

arareeamamononggththeDeDemomocraticpresidentialcandidates

disavowingcorporatecash,lobbyistchecks, orthe

superPACsystem.They’retryingtooutdo each

otherwithpromisestofinancetheircampaignswith

grassrootscontributions.Butwhile theyplaydown

theroleofmoneyandinfluence,longtimeWall

Streetdonorswhohavebothsaylittlehaschanged.

“I’vetalkedtoabouthalfofthem,andI havenot

runintoa single onewho said, ‘Hey,youworked

atGoldmanSachs, I can’ttakeyourmoney,’ ” says

Heyman,whohelpedelectBarackObamabycollect-

ingchecksfromfriendsandlaterbecamehisambas-

sador toCanada. “I’venotheardthat—ever.”

WallStreethaslongbeena deepwellfromwhich

presidentialcandidatesdrawhundredsofmillions

ofdollarsforadvertising,travel,andstaff. Asthe

presidential race gears up,almostthe entire