This Republican Mega-Donor Is Changing Local Elections In Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania’s richest man has poured millions into campaigns up and down the state’s ballot, transforming typically sleepy elections into competitive races.

Jeffrey Yass, the co-founder of trading firm Susquehanna International Group, was the sixth-largest donor to federal races in 2024, spending $100 million for Republican candidates. But what makes Yass unique is his hyperfocus on local races — including a $34 million donation to Students First PAC in Pennsylvania.

“Most of these folks are pretty much strictly giving at the federal level,” said Brendan Glavin, the director of insights at OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan organization that tracks political spending. “For something that’s going on in a state, this is an incredibly large amount. It’s made him a very big player in what’s going on in Pennsylvania.”

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Only 11 states, including Pennsylvania, allow for unlimited individual or PAC funds to be given directly to candidates, while federal law restricts donations to $3,500 per individual or $5,000 per election. Federal law supersedes state campaign finance laws, but only in elections for federal office. The 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United ruling also increased the influence of wealthy individuals and donors in elections, allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money on political advocacy.

Yass-funded groups are now pouring millions into the state’s Supreme Court retention race taking place on Tuesday, a typically low-key race in which incumbent candidates run without a party affiliation. His involvement has forced national Democrats to spend resources where they normally wouldn’t have to.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and the Democratic National Committee committed six figures to the Supreme Court race to combat Yass’ contributions. Meanwhile, Eugene DePasquale, the new chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, announced a strategy to renew party focus on the state’s down-ballot races.

“As far-right billionaires flood state Supreme Court races with dark money, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Democrats to maintain the Pennsylvania state supreme court majority,” Heather Williams, DLCC’s president, told NOTUS in a statement. “We cannot allow megadonors to buy elections and further corrupt the system.”

Yass’ contributions have transformed the way races operate in the state, Pennsylvania state Rep. and Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta said. And he knows from experience.

“It is something so unique to Pennsylvania, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kenyatta said. “Candidates raise $0, effectively, maybe 50 bucks from a friend, and they just wait for Jeff Yass and his multiplicity of entities to come in and fund their campaigns.”

Kenyatta lost to Republican incumbent Tim DeFoor in last year’s state auditor general race. Commonwealth Leaders Fund, financed by Yass, contributed more than $400,000 to DeFoor’s campaign.

Kenyatta spent $816,000 between May and November in his race against DeFoor, most of it through his own fundraising.

“I was the first or second in terms of fundraising for anyone running for auditor general ever,” Kenyatta said. “Jeff Yass dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars in mailers and TV. This is all coming from one of the wealthiest people in the world.”

Funds backed by Yass have also spent millions to unseat Democratic incumbents in Pennsylvania’s General Assembly, to support the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania’s attorney general and to back the state’s school choice movement. Yass also funded moderate Democratic challengers to Rep. Summer Lee, a progressive House representative, in 2022 and 2024.

How much Yass has actually spent in the state is murky, Glavin added –– the Commonwealth Leaders Fund, for example, receives most of its money from Yass through two other committees.

“It’s not uncommon to see one group act as a sort of clearinghouse, taking in the money and distributing it among other groups,” Glavin said. “It adds a layer of distance if the donors don’t want to be directly associated with giving donations.”

A spokesperson for Yass did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

Democrats’ in the state House are also working to curb Yass’ influence.

Last year, legislation to require finance reports from organizations advocating for or against candidates passed Pennsylvania’s House but failed the Republican-controlled state Senate. Kenyatta is re-introducing bills this year to limit campaign contributions and require political organizations to report their financiers.

“This really reflects a broader wild, wild west of campaign finance reform, or the lack thereof,” Kenyatta said. “Jeffrey Yass, with his checkbook, has made the entire Pennsylvania Republican Party a plaything of his agenda.”