Kyrsten Sinema is a former Arizona State Senator, former State Representative, and candidate for Arizona's new Ninth Congressional District. This is a conventional biography, but Sinema is anything but conventional: She's a J.D., M.S.W., and Ph.D.--a defense lawyer, social worker, and academic. She's also openly-bisexual, a vegan or a vegetarian, and an ex-Mormon of uncertain religious affiliation. (See here and here.) But that's her personal life. Her political life has been equally unusual, though. In 2000, she was an official in Ralph Nader's presidential campaign. Now she's a consummate insider: an at-large Obama delegate in 2008, a member of the White House task force on health reform, a member of legislative leadership, and a collector of "rising star" profiles and fellowships. This duality is evident in her fundraising, with large Sinema donors ranging from liberal advocates to conservative statehouse insiders.
Introduction:
Sinema, as I discussed above, faces an interesting (if not necessarily unusual) challenge: She is an urban Democrat in a safe seat, running for higher office in a more marginal constituency. According to DRA, Sinema's LD-15 voted 62.5% for President Obama, while, according to DKE's table, AZ-09 only voted 51% for Obama.
But Sinema has already overcome an analogous challenge: She began as a Green party official, as I said above:
On Oct. 26, the Arizona Civil Liberties Union hosted a presidential candidate forum to debate civil liberties issues.
[...]
Sam Coppersmith, Valley attorney and former congressman, represented Vice President Al Gore of the Democratic Party; Kyrsten Sinema, media spokeswoman for the Green Party, Arizona, represented Ralph Nader; John Buttrick, Valley attorney, represented Neil Smith of the Libertarian Party; Bonnie Williams, state treasurer of the Arizona Women's Political Caucus, represented John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party; and Mark Spitzer, former Arizona state senator, represented George W. Bush of the Republican Party.
(My emphasis.)
As her Wikipedia article points out, Sinema's first campaigns were as an independent, and she attracted little support:
In 2001, she ran for the Phoenix City Council District 8. In a nine candidate race, she ranked last with just 2% of the vote.[4]
[...]
Sinema first ran for the Arizona House of Representatives in 2002, as an independent. She ranked last, got only 8% of the vote, and lost the general election to Ken Clark and Wally Straughn.[5]
But in the next election cycle, she ran and won as a Democrat, and has in fact become one of the state's most prominent Democrats. By 2012, Sam Coppersmith--the very person who opposed her and represented the Democratic Party in that 2000 debate--is the
chair of her Democratic primary campaign!
I can't think of too many politicians who have managed transitions like that--perhaps perennial candidate turned U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, or former Black Panthers/"militants" like Bobby Rush or Tom Hayden. Sinema's ability to make this transition was perhaps abetted by Arizona's "Clean Elections" campaign system, which, according to the political scientists Seth Masket and Michael Miller, may "take away the gate-keepers" and allow "extremists [to] break through". (See also his post here and the linked Ruth Marcus column.)
I can also think of a few politicians who have managed transitions from safe urban Democratic seats to more marginal constituencies--including the President of the United States.
But I can't think of any politician who has managed both transitions, successively, within a decade or so. If Sinema is elected from AZ-09, it will be a remarkable achievement, and it is a testament to her political skills--along with good luck, of course--that she has gotten as close as she has.
Sinema has written a book about coalition-building. I haven't looked at her policy record, but I have looked at her donors through her sole FEC report to date. From that (partial) analysis, she seems to have assembled (whether by design or not) a formidable and unusual coalition of her own, and a coalition well-suited to accomplish this task.
Politicians, of course, tend to be joiners, and Sinema is no exception. Her legislative biography includes:
Kyrsten is actively involved in the community, serving as the Board President for COAR (Community Outreach and Advocacy for Refugees), Board Member of the National Young Elected Officials’ Network, Board Member of the Progressive Democrats of American, Board Member of Girls for a Change, Advisory Board Member for the Arizona Death Penalty Forum, Board Member of the Center for Progressive Leadership, and a member of the Governor’s Commission to Prevent Violence Against Women. Recently, she served as the Chair of Arizona Together, the first group in the country to defeat a same-sex marriage ban on the ballot.
As we'll see, Sinema has drawn on those connections in her fundraising, and it seems likely to me that the Arizona (and national) feminist, LGBT, civil liberties, and secular communities see her as "one of them". She also has large donations from some organized labor PACs, and from big Democratic donors without the same kind of apparent ideological activism.
But at the same time, Sinema has also received large donations from several bipartisan or conservative-leaning Arizona insiders and officials from the Chamber of Commerce. She has been endorsed by the Arizona Police Association and by the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association while still getting large donations from local public defenders, death penalty activists, and ACLU types. It's a pretty remarkable network, whatever her chances in the primary or general election, and whatever you think of her policies.
Perhaps you'll look below and see a former radical in the process of selling out, or perhaps you'll see a hippie reluctantly backed by the establishment, or perhaps you'll see a pragmatic liberal, but I think it's interesting whichever way.
Sinema has raised $168,756 from itemized individual donations, $25,264 from committee donations, and $64,713 from unitemized individual donations, or $258,733 in all. That's the official FEC count; although below I omitted some in-kind donations that were also counted as disbursements. About $122,014 of that is accounted for in my breakdown below.
For a geographic comparison of Cherny's and Sinema's fundraising, see this AZ Central blog post.
Note: In my last diary about the AZ-09 primary, I looked at Andrei Cherny's large donors (those who gave at least $1,000). Sinema raised less than Cherny, and was also less dependent on large donors than was Cherny, so I'm going to relax that a bit. My basic methodology was to use the 60 or so individual and PAC donors who gave at least $1,000 to Sinema as "seeds", along with what I knew about Sinema, and to see what connections I could find between them or between them and Sinema. Hopefully, I'll at least mention all 60 of these largest donors below. I didn't look at every donor, or include every donor who fit every category (this diary has to end at some point!) but ideally this is enough that you get the idea.
1. Labor: Simple enough.
The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union Ballot Club gave $10,000, while the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees gave $2,500.
2. LGBT Activists: This category is meant to encompass donors whose professional or charitable activities are notably LGBT-oriented. Sinema, openly LGBT herself, has done well among such donors, both nationally and within Arizona.
The Human Rights Campaign gave $4,000. Sheila Kloefkorn, who has been honored by the Arizona chapter of HRC, gave $1,100. (Kloefkorn has also donated to Arizona List--see below--so these aren't hard-and-fast categories.)
Sinema's campaign for Congress has been endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund. Jon Stryker, of Kalamazoo, is a big donor to LGBT causes in general and to the GLVF in particular, and he gave $2,500 to Sinema.
David Bohnett of Beverly Hills, also mentioned in the link before last, gave $1,000, earmarked through the GLVF.
Richard Ross, of Los Angeles, gave $2,500, also earmarked through the GLVF.
Frederick Lee Lum, in 2008, was one of the largest donors opposing "Arizona's Proposition 102 [which] amended the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage". (Another was Jon Stryker.) He also apparently volunteered for an Arizona Rainbow festival, and he gave $1,000 to Sinema.
Tobias Wolff, who was "Legal Advisor & LGBT Policy Chair" to Obama's Presidential campaign (where he might well have known Sinema), gave $550. Sinema and Wolff had a reception featuring a discussion of Arizona's immigration law, SB 1070.
Evan Wolfson is "the founder and executive director of Freedom to Marry", and he gave $250.
Lindsey Buckman is a psychologist whose specializations include "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trangender, Queer, and Questioning Issues" and "AIDS/HIV", and is a member of the American Psychological Association, in "Division 44, Society for the Psychological Study of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Issues". She is listed on ASU's list of "Arizona's Gay and Gay Friendly Health Services", and says she "began [her] work with HIV and AIDS patients during my doctoral training at the Mental Health Clinic at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center." (All of which is pretty cool! Inexplicably, she also donated to a couple of Republicans along with Sinema and Meza.) She's one of Sinema's very few maxed-out individual donors, having given $5,000.
Robby Browne, of New York, has been "recognized by New York Magazine as one of New York's 21 most powerful and successful [real estate] brokers", and he's also "served on the board of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) [and] The Gay Games". He gave $750.
Douglas Cunningham, of Phoenix, gave $1,000. He's a doctor who is or was president of the Arizona chapter of the American Academy of HIV medicine, and (as of 2001) "built a coalition of AIDS activists groups (Arizona AIDS Project, Phoenix Body Positive) to, as he states, 'provide support, background, and information resources to negotiate with health plans on reimbursement issues.'" I'm not sure if this should go here, but I doubt it's unrelated, especially since Cunningham's apparently sole federal donation was to the HRC.
Dana Beyer, the Executive Director of Gender Rights Maryland, gave $250.
3. Feminist Political Groups:
The Women's Campaign Forum PAC gave $1,000, Women's Action for New Directions Inc. gave $1,000, and the Women Under Forty Political Action Committee gave $500.
Arizona List is "a committee for pro-choice Democratic women in Arizona". Several board members were big Sinema donors. Catherene Morton (like Sinema, a J.D./Ph.D.) gave $2,000, and Pamela Grissom (the chairperson of the board) also gave $2,000, and see also the corporate registry.
Sinema appeared at an event Arizona List held for then-Attorney General candidate Felecia Rotellini, along with Sara J. Powell, who also gave $1,000.
Cynda Collins Arsenault of Superior, Colorado says she "is President and Co-Founder of Secure World Foundation and has 40 years experience in non-profit work including peace and justice, prison, mental health, disability rights and environmental issues." Given that activism, she could be in several categories, but Sinema appeared at an event at Arsenault's house for "Women's Action for New Directions (WAND) and WAND's program for women state legislators, the Women Legislators' Lobby (WiLL)".
Sinema is described as "an active member of WiLL", and (in the first link) Arsenault describes herself as "a philanthropist concentrating on the empowerment and voice of women, [who] is part of the Women's Donor Network and Women Moving Millions". (Again, these aren't hard-and-fast categories--the second link, to the event at Arsenault's house, is through outboulder.org.)
Speaking of WAND, their executive director, Susan Shaer, gave $500.
Allison Bones is "Executive Director [of the] Arizona Coalition Against Domestic [Violence]", and is, as Sinema was, on the Governor’s Commission to Prevent Violence Against Women. She gave $500.
4. Civil Liberties/Secular Groups: This is a fairly broad category, so I'm going to break it up.
4a. People for the American Way:
Sinema got $5,000 from the People For The American Way Voters Alliance. She also got donations from several board members of People For The American Way or the People For The American Way Foundation boards of directors--unsurprising, perhaps, since Sinema herself is on the latter board. Carole Shields gave $1,000, Daniel Katz gave $1,750, Ronald Feldman gave $1,000, Norman Lear gave $500, Clyde (Ev) Shorey gave $500, Michael Keegan gave $500, Nate Westheimer gave $762, and Geraldine Day Zurn gave $500.
Norman Lear, of course, isn't merely a board member, but the founder of PFAW, so I'll (shakily) include Lear's wife, Lyn Lear, who gave another $500, as well as Lara Bergthold, of the Lear Family Foundation. who gave $250.
4b: Civil Rights Attorneys:
Marty Lieberman is or was the Maricopa County Legal Defender. This right-wing blog points out that he's the "founder of the rabid anti-death penalty group Arizona Death Penalty Forum [...and] is well-known as Arizona’s leading voice against capital punishment." Recall that Sinema was an advisory board member to that organization. He gave $1,000.
Dale Baich is also on that blog's list, and he's another public defender and anti-death-penalty activist. He gave $1,500.
Lieberman and Baich are mentioned here and here in the same press release from then-Maricopa-County-Attorney Andrew Thomas' campaign against challenger Tim Nelson from 2008. Thomas listed defense attorneys who contributed to "ACLU lawyer Tim Nelson", and Kyrsten Sinema was listed among them.
Also mentioned in that press release is Andrew Silverman, "an extreme anti-death penalty/pro-illegal alien University of Arizona law professor and member of far-left groups like 'Coalition of Arizonans to Abolish the Death Penalty' and 'Florence Immigrant Rights Project.'" He's given $250 to Sinema.
Frances Hammond is also mentioned there, although I can't find much about her. She seems to have donated to the Florence Project, and also to the Arizona Justice Project, which her husband, Larry Hammond, co-founded. She gave $1,000 to Sinema.
John Curtin is a lawyer at a three-lawyer firm, Robbins and Curtin, whose practice areas include civil rights. Curtin, in particular, "represented the plaintiffs" in a lawsuit against Maricopa County over "a schizophrenic Arizona man who had a fatal heart attack weeks after he was forced to put on pink underwear in Sheriff Joe Arpaio's notorious county jail". He gave Sinema $1,000.
4c. ACLU/Humanists:
Zenaido Quintana ran for a seat on the board of the Arizona Civil Liberties Union (AzCLU) (which he achieved) and describes himself as "a member of the ACLU, Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix, and the Greater Phoenix Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State". He gave $1,000.
Seguing slightly into secular/humanist groups, Harold Saferstein, described here as "an active member of the Humanist Society of Greater Phoenix", gave $2,500 to Sinema. (I think. The PDF and spreadsheet slightly disagree, with the latter giving it as $2,350.) As it happens, Saferstein and Quintana have given a presentation together at the Humanist Community Center.
Sinema has "openly participated in a 2010 event marking the creation of Secular Coalition for America’s first state affiliate, in Arizona [and also] spoke to the Humanist Society of Greater Pheonix."
5. Sinema's Staffers and Colleagues:
Sinema's treasurer, Stephen Anderson, gave $1,512, and her administrative assistant, Mary Peralta, gave $1,000. State Senator Robert Meza, who is openly gay, also gave $1,000, while State Representative Matt Heinz (also openly-gay) gave $500.
6. Other Miscellaneous Liberals:
Sinema is a (former?) "Board Member" of the Progressive States Network, whose Executive Director, Ann Pratt, gave $500.
Beth Meyer has been "on the Board of Directors’ for [...] the Arizona ACLU and Planned Parenthood of Central and Northern Arizona [and] was a co-founder of the Community AIDS Council", so she might well as easily go into other categories, but I'm putting her here as the "AZ State Director and Vice President" of the Center for Progressive Leadership, where Kyrsten Sinema has been on the faculty. Meyer gave $1,000.
Dilia Loe is now at CSU-Chico and the Chico Peace and Justice Center, but she has also been on the faculty of CPL Arizona--like Sinema. She gave $500.
Carol Kent-Ireland is a Flagstaff poet (and the daughter of songwriter William Kent) who was one of the largest donors to Ralph Nader's 2004 Presidential campaign, which isn't saying too much. She has also donated to Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Camphill Foundation, the World Policy Institute at the New School, the Sisters of Social Service, and so on. Politically, she's given to Citizens Against Violent Crime Yes on 66, to the Credo Victory Fund for Choice, and to the Arizona committee opposed to Proposition 102. She gave $1,000 to Sinema.
Stephanie Nichols-Young is a lawyer who describes her practice as "initially specializing in commercial and real estate-related litigation and representation of animal advocacy organizations, later as general counsel for a group of entities". She is also the President of the "Animal Defense League of Arizona". She gave $1,000.
Robin Silver is "one of the [Center for Biological Diversity's] founders", and a Democratic donor at the state and federal levels. He gave Sinema $750.
Bob Stelling was "found[er] and was the Chairman of the Arizona Democratic Party Veterans' Caucus". I'm sorry to say that Stelling (who seems like a real mesnch from his FB page) passed away a few days ago; Sinema herself eulogized him as a "friend [...whose] leadership in the Democratic Party and his dedication to 'Forgotten Vets', the DREAM Act and the repeal of DADT created coalitions that we benefit from today". He gave $1,250.
Jared Polis' parents are the "[s]elf-proclaimed hippies" Stephen Schutz, who gave $1,000, and Susan Polis Schutz, who also gave $1,000. I wasn't sure where to put them. Susan Schutz spoke at NOW, which referred to her as "a longtime supporter of equality between the sexes and an advocate for women's health issues and the elderly [and] Schutz and her husband are also committed to civil rights and peace." She also made a film about parents with gay children, and are big Democratic donors at the federal level.
Karen Gerdes is a professor at ASU's School of Social Work (where Sinema got her M.S.W.). According to her site, "[h]er research interests include empathy, empathy measurement, poverty, conation and issues related to Latino populations". Interestingly, Gerdes' partner is Martha Beck, like Sinema an ex-Mormon. (I originally learned this from a blog I'd rather not link to.) Gerdes gave $2,620.
In a similar vein, Elizabeth Swadener is a Professor at ASU's School of Social Transformation. She is also the President and co-founder of the Jirani Project, whose "[m]ission [...] is to honor the promise and expand the opportunities of Kenyan children through education and holistic support." Sinema apparently hosts their annual fundraiser "each spring", and herself apparently worked in Kenya years ago. (Another blog I'm not thrilled to link to.) Swadener gave $1,000.
Judith Hardes, of Phoenix, gave $1,000. Hardes has apparently been a big donor to EMILY's List and to the Arizona Democratic party for many years. How many? Well, here's a newspaper story referring to a "Judy Hardes" as the "newly-elected South Pacific regional director of the National Federation of Democratic Women's Club". In 1975. Hardes was also apparently on the host committee of an event for the Arizona Advocacy Network, which describes its mission as "secur[ing] electoral justice, political rights and full civic participation, especially for underrepresented and marginalized constituencies, [and] to achieve government for the People, not corporations."
Steve Bing, one of the largest Democratic donors in the country, gave $5,000 to Sinema.
7. Arizona Insiders:
Many of the above people might be insiders of one kind or another, but in this category, I'm talking about donors who seem to be very prominent in Arizona's legal, business, or political communities, but who are either Democrats who don't seem to have strong connections to Sinema or her causes, insiders who don't seem to be firm partisans or ideologues at all, and even a Republican or two.
For example, Gretchen Jacobs is a lobbyist who has, in her own description, "secur[ed] millions of dollars in appropriations [and] lock[ed] up votes for the passage of highly technical, highly favorable bills " for her clients. In 2004 she donated similar amounts to Arizona's Republican and Democratic parties--within a month. In the 2008, 2010, and 2012 cycles, she made dozens of donations at the state level, to both Republicans and Democrats, but mostly to Republicans. She even cameos in this Phoenix New Times/Feathered Bastard blog post as a "gatekeeper" at a fundraiser for Russell Pearce. She gave Sinema $2,000. I'm skeptical that she and Carol Kent-Ireland or Norman Lear have much in common besides donating to Sinema.
Peter Fine is described in this AZ Central article as "CEO of Banner Health, Arizona's largest hospital chain", where he is quoted disparagingly about a bill that "would require hospitals to check the legal status of a patient if the patient was unable to show proof of health insurance". Despite this, he mostly gave to Republicans in the 2010 cycle, at least at the state level, and he's mostly given to Republicans at the federal level, except for Harry Mitchell--and he continues to give to Republicans at the federal level. Despite this, he gave Sinema $1,500. Mark Sklar is on the board of Banner, as well as "the Maricopa Partnership for Arts and Culture [...] Ballet Arizona, ASU Foundation, [...] and the Phoenix Symphony." Sklar's sole state-level donation (that I can find) is to a Republican, but he overwhelmingly donates to Democrats at the federal level, although this cycle he maxed out to Wil Cardon. He gave $1,000.
Fine is also mentioned on this right-wing blog, as one of "60 CEOs" who expressed their "dissension with legislative action [on immigration] on the state level". (Their link.) The blog continues "The 'CEOs' were all members of the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce/Arizona Chamber of Commerce. Ten percent were members of the COC Board (denoted in red)." Fine wasn't one of those (past?) board members, but other Sinema donors on the list were.
One was Howard Fleischmann, who gave $1,000, although he seems to mostly give to Democrats.
Another was Reginald Ballantyne III, of Vanguard Health, the past chairman of the Chamber, who has given to both Democrats and Republicans at the state and federal levels. Ballantyne has advocated for health-care reform (although against a public option) while more recently appearing on the host committee for "the sponsor of the Arizona Healthcare Freedom Act – Nancy Barto". I'm not sure what ideology that all adds up to, but he gave Sinema $1,500.
Anne Mariucci has been chair of the Arizona Board of Regents, initially appointed by Janet Napolitano. As a measure of what I mean by an Arizona insider: "She currently
serves as a Director of the Arizona State Retirement System, Scottsdale Healthcare, the ASU Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, and Fresh Start Women's Foundation." She has recently-ish donated to Carly Fiorna, Gabrielle Giffords, Ann Kirkpatrick, John McCain, and Jeff Flake, among others. Her state-level donations are similarly bipartisan; for example, in 2010, she donated to Republicans Jan Brewer and Doug Ducey and to Democrats Robert Meza and Felecia Rotellini. She gave $1,000 to Sinema.
William Perry is a farmer who has been the (elected) "President of the CAWCD [Central Arizona Water Conservation District] Board". At the federal level, he has given to politicians from both parties, and he has also given to both the Republican and Democratic parties of Arizona. The same is true at the state level, although he might be more Democratic in recent cycles, and he was a pretty big donor in both campaigns against the gay-marriage bans, and his farm has donated to the Florence Project, which "provid[es] free legal services to men, women, and unaccompanied children detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Arizona." Perhaps he should be in one of the above categories. Anyway, he gave $3,500 to Sinema.
Joseph McGarry is a lawyer who, among other things, topped the Arizona Bar Exam and became "president of the Maricopa Bar Association"--in 1955 and 1961, respectively. Unlike many of the people in this category, he seems to be basically a solid Democrat, at least in his donations at the federal and state levels, although he did donate to at least one Republican (an Attorney General candidate, in the primary, in 2002). He also gave money to the campaign against Prop. 107, the failed 2006 same-sex marriage ban--a campaign chaired by Sinema. I can't imagine that he could have foreseen when he was topping the bar exam in 1955 that one day he'd give $1,000 to the Congressional campaign of a liberal bisexual woman, but it's the case either way, which I think is pretty great.
7a. Sinema/Cherny donors:
There's a special kind of insider who would donate to both Sinema and to her primary rival, Andrei Cherny. I'm assuming that everyone below is some kind of insider, but I could be wrong. Several common donors have been mentioned already that I think fit better in other categories (Dale Baich, Matt Heinz). But here are a few more. I didn't pay these as much attention; I guess since they're not purely "Sinema-y" donors in this primary.
Donald Budinger, Chairman of the Rodel Foundation, gave $500 to both Sinema and Cherny. He is also "Chairman and Founding Director of Science Foundation Arizona, Board Member of The Morrison Institute, Basis Charter Schools and Greater Phoenix Leadership[, and] serves on the Southern Arizona Leadership Council and the O’Connor House Advisory Group." He has donated mostly to Democrats at the federal level, it seems to me, although he's also given to Ben Quayle(!) and to Mitch McConnell(!!), among others.
Roma Wittcoff, who, along with her husband Raymond, was one of the largest
donors in the nation over the 2006 cycle, gave $1,000 to Sinema--and $5,000 to Cherny.
Marta Morando, on the other hand, gave $1,500 to Sinema and only $250 to Cherny.
Former Senator from Arizona Dennis DeConcini gave $1,000 to both Sinema and Cherny.
Lee Stein is a lawyer who was also mentioned in the Thomas campaign's list of contributors to Tim Nelson, and he donated to the Arizona Justice Project, but I'm putting him here since he also gave $1,000 to both Sinema and Cherny.
John Whiteman is "president of the Whiteman Foundation [...] co-founder and co-chair of Educare Arizona, a world-class educational childcare center planned for the Phoenix metropolitan area, and serves on the boards of numerous corporate and nonprofit entities, including the Arizona Museum for Youth, the Morrison Institute for Public Policy, the Phoenix Symphony and the Arizona Community Foundation." He gave $2,620 to Sinema and $2,500 to Cherny. The slight difference might not reflect any favor towards Sinema, as Sinema asked donors to contribute in 26.2-themed amounts, as Sinema is a runner and there are 26.2 miles in a marathon. Which SaoMagnifico had to tell me.
8. Your guess is as good as mine:
Having gotten this far, I may as well briefly describe Sinema's remaining donors who gave at least $1,000.
Brook Byers, of Menlo Park, gave $1,000 . Byers is a venture capitalist and, apparently, a big, big Democratic donor. Perhaps he should go under "miscellaneous liberals". I'm also not sure whether or not he's connected to Sinema from her stint as a TED Fellow. (And how many other Congressional aspirants can you say that about?) Apparently Byers is or was a "TED patron".
David Higgins, of Scottsdale and AICI investments, maxed out to Sinema with $5,000. I can't find much of any other donations or much of anything else about him.
Similarly, Michael Ganger of Norwood, New Jersey gave $5,000--he describes himself as "Lead E.M. Technician" at Weill-Cornell, and I think he's also this adjunct at Montclair State, but beyond that?
Marion C. Weber of Tucson is a pretty big Democratic donor, including to EMILY's List, but I can't find much else about her. She gave $1,000.
Perhaps the strangest case is Sushant Sidh of Fort Washington, Maryland, who gave $1,000. Sidh's donations seem to mostly go to rather conservative Democrats such as Joe Manchin, Arlen Specter (a complicated case), Frank Kratovil, and Al Wynn (the second time), and to other Maryland Democrats as well, I suppose. Sidh is now a lobbyist who had been "a Deputy Chief of Staff under former Governor Parris N. Glendening". Best of all for DKE fans, Sidh has been described as "an architect of the redistricting plan authored under Gov. Parris N. Glendening" and thus as a "father [...] of [state] democratic hegemony".
Alan Schwertfeger, of Phoenix, gave another $1,000 to Sinema. He's donated to a Democratic Secretary of State candidate, Sam Wercinski, and against the 2006 gay marriage ban, as well as to an apparent Congressional campaign of current State Senator (also openly gay) Jack Jackson, Jr.
Jerrold I. Cohen, of Tucson and the Canyon Ranch, gave $2,500. He seems to donate almost entirely to Democrats at both the federal and state levels. The Canyon Ranch is a "resort spa" with a self-described "innovative approach to health, wellness and holistic and integrative care". Interestingly, current Democratic Senate candidate Richard Carmona is "Vice Chairman [...and] oversees all aspects of Health & Wellness at the corporate level".
Jerre Van Den Bent, of Dallas, Texas, gave $1,000. Van Den Bent is a physical therapist and the founder of "THERAPY 2000 [which] has become a thriving company providing in-home pediatric services to families across the DFW Metroplex". His donation was earmarked through Democracy Engine, but I think Democracy Engine is the fundraising tool, rather than the fundraising organization. I've noticed he seems to be throwing a lot of money around this cycle--he gave $1,000 each to Shelley Berkley and Tammy Baldwin. He was also quoted as a business owner against last year's Texas budget.
8:58 PM PT: Forgot that Sinema had resigned from the Senate! Thanks, sapelcovits.