It’s not unusual for Hollywood’s Republicans to hide in the closet as campaigns gear up, but this election year they’ve locked the door behind them.
With Democratic donors going all out to support their top-of-the-ticket candidates in the November elections, Sen. Barbara Boxer and would-be Gov. Jerry Brown, Republicans have been far less helpful to their opponents, Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman, according to the most recent contribution records.
Indeed, the disparity between Boxer and Fiorina is especially striking, given the anti-incumbent mood sweeping the country this year and the expectation for big Republican gains in the mid-term elections.
Boxer, who is seeking a fourth six-year term following 10 years in the House, has more than 40 Hollywood donors for every one of Fiorina’s.
Among Boxer’s supporters are dozens of well-known industry figures, including Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Barbra Streisand, Robin Williams, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Kevin Kline, Sally Field, Christopher Guest, Don Henley, Bob Iger, Ron Meyer, Peter Chernin and J.J. Abrams.
(More donors? See who's supporting Boxer and Fiorina.)
A review of the latest FEC records showed only two donations for ex-Hewlett-Packard CEO Fiorina from people in entertainment, and not the biggest of names -- Mindy Stearns ("Bridezillas") and James A. McIlwain, a Telemundo ad sales director.
It’s slightly better in the governor’s race. Brown has a 3-1 donor edge in Hollywood support over Whitman, the former eBay CEO -- with many of the same contributors Boxer has. Among Whitman’s biggest supporters from the industry are Michael Ovitz, Michael Lynton, Tommy Mottola, Richard Cook and Elizabeth Gabler.
A number of well-known Hollywood Republicans, like Jerry Bruckheimer, Gary Sinise, Patricia Heaton, Jon Voigt and Kelsey Grammar have so far kept their distance from Fiorina and Whitman, according to the donor lists.
Efforts to reach them were unsuccessful. A spokesperson for Sinise said he would not comment. Representatives for the four others did not respond to requests for comment.
“One has to entertain the possibility that Republican donors in this community are just not happy with the two Republican nominees,” Andy Spahn, a political advisor whose clients include Spielberg, Geffen and Katzenberg, told TheWrap.
Spahn said longevity in politics works to the Democrats’ favor in the elections this year, anti-incumbency fervor notwithstanding. Brown, after all, has a political pedigree even longer than Boxer’s. California’s Attorney General since 2007, he was governor from 1975 to 1983 and mayor of Oakland from 1999 to 2007. He also ran three times for President.
“These are two candidates who have deep and long-term relations in the Hollywood community,” Spahn said of Boxer and Brown. “They have lots of friendships, and that translates to lots of support.”
By contrast, said Sal Russo, a Republican political consultant, Fiorina and Whitman “are both new to politics, and neither of them has come into contact with a lot of Hollywood people.”
