Here's One Donor Liked By The DSCC AND The NRSC

By Greg Giroux | March 23, 2009 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's not uncommon for organizations to give campaign funds to both political parties so that they nurture alliances on both sides of the aisle.

But it is pretty rare to see an individual donor give large amounts to both Democratic and Republican organizations.

Jon Huntsman Sr., a businessman who is the namesake father of the Republican governor of Utah, last month gave the maximum $30,400 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), according to a review of recently filed campaign finance documents. His wife Karen also gave the maximum amount to both Senate campaign committees, which are partisan rivals in the 36 Senate contests that are on 2010 ballots.

Huntsman is used to bipartisan giving.

He and his wife in early 2007 also gave the maximum contribution to the DSCC and NRSC.

According to information on CQ MoneyLine, Huntsman's political donations have gone to a diverse set of politicians that includes New York Democratic Rep. Charles B. Rangel, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and North Carolina Republican Elizabeth Dole, who was defeated for re-election to the Senate last year.

Gov. Huntsman, who was first elected in 2004 and overwhelmingly re-elected last year, doesn't share his father's donation habits. But he has shown a maverick streak from time to time: the governor supported Arizona Sen. John McCain for the Republican presidential nomination over Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor with close Utah ties who won nearly 90 percent of the vote in the Utah Republican primary in February 2008.

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