Bloomberg Businessweek May 2 7, 2019
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Editedby
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