|
|
The 34-year-old son of a billionaire Wall Street hedge fund tycoon—with no political experience—has already donated millions to his own campaign in an effort to unseat Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from the state.
Alex Lasry, who is running as a Democrat, must have shaken old birthday cards because he donated $5.8 million to his campaign, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing the Federal Election Commission. He will face other Democrats in a primary next month and then Johnson in November, the paper said.
Like all rich political hopefuls, he insisted that his personal wealth means he will not be beholden to any big donor or business.
Lasry, a senior vice president for the Milwaukee Bucks, is the son of Marc Lasry, who is worth about $1.8 billion. His daddy co-founded Avenue Capital Group and is a co-owner of the team.
TRENDPOST: The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ran an op-ed on the many privileges of Alex Lasry. The paper said he left his job for the team—one he obviously received because his father is the co-owner—but continues to use the team’s championship to boost his campaign.
He has also taken the NBA trophy to a variety of campaign, civic and business events over the past year. And—get this—he also had a replica trophy made that he lugged around to some public and private gatherings.
Tight Race?
The race against Johnson will be closely watched because Democrats see him as vulnerable. The paper said Lasry is trailing Mandela Barnes by a few points. Barnes is currently the state’s lieutenant governor and can be the state’s first black senator. The 35-year-old would be the second-youngest senator if elected.
Lasry vowed to continue to fund his campaign.
He faced criticism in January 2021, when COVID-19 vaccines were just released, when he managed to land a jab long before many in the elderly community or those at highest risk for infection.
He insisted that his family name had nothing to do with his jab.
“I just got lucky,” he said, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
He told the paper that his wife was pregnant at the time and when she refused to take the jab, he learned that the facility had extra shots and he did not want the jabs to go to waste.
The Trends Journal has reported on how politics in the U.S. is becoming a billionaires’ playground. (See “U.S. ELECTIONS: A BILLIONAIRES’ CIRCUS.”)
JB Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt hotel chain with an estimated personal net worth of $3.6 billion, is fighting for his political career in Illinois against Darren Bailey, himself a multi-millionaire who has been backed by former President Donald Trump and received millions from Richard Uihlein, a major Republican donor.
Uihlein also gave $8.1 million to another group that helped Bailey in the primary, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
TREND FORECAST: As we reported on 20 April 2021, the “WALL ST. GANG SPENT $3B ON 2020 ELECTION CAMPAIGNS.” In this case, Republicans got 47 percent of the dough and Democrats, which play the “liberal” line, pulled in 53 percent of the money.
Plain and simple, without big money behind a candidate running for office, the chances of beating one of the two party mobsters is slim and none. (See “POLS EMBRACE CRYPTO CAMPAIGN FUNDING” and “HOW BIG TECH MAINTAINS ITS MONOPOLY.”)