Steven Spielberg among big donors to Wisconsin governor’s campaign that’s raised over $10 million

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Filmmaker Steven Spielberg, the most commercially successful director of all time, donated $20,000 to Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ reelection campaign, a tally released Tuesday showed.

Spielberg and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw, were among 31 people who gave Evers the maximum $20,000 donation allowed under law, according information from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Those 31 top donors gave Evers a total of $620,000.

Of the $10.1 million Evers raised over the first half of the year, about $4.3 million came in cash and in-kind donations from the Wisconsin Democratic Party, the Democracy Campaign said. That helped Evers report the highest amount of fundraising over that period for any incumbent governor, beating the previous record set by then-Gov. Scott Walker at about $5.5 million in 2018.

Evers beat Walker, a Republican, in 2018 and is running for a second term.

Spielberg, who directed such blockbusters as “E.T.”, “Jurassic Park” and “Jaws”, is a longtime supporter of Democratic candidates across the country. Earlier this year he and Capshaw also donated $10,000 each to Democratic Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford’s campaign.

The Aug. 9 Wisconsin primary will determine who Evers faces in November. One of the top Republican candidates in that race, construction company co-owner Tim Michels, has spent $7.9 million of his own money so far. Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch raised $3.6 million over the first half of the year and didn’t contribute any of her own money.

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Other notable $20,000 donors to Evers, as tracked by the Democracy Campaign, include:

— Jeff and Erica Lawson, of San Francisco. Jeff Lawson is co-founder and chief executive officer of Twilio.

— Billionaire couple Dirk and Natasha Ziff, of New York City.

— David Rusenko, of San Francisco. He is founder and chief executive officer of Weebly and e-commerce general manager of Square.

— Monica Horan Rosenthal, of Los Angeles. She is an actress who appeared in the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

— Jennifer Soros, of New York City, president of the Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros Foundation.