A billionaire hedge fund couple is dumping millions into a high-stakes effort to push the Democratic Party away from its increasingly radical left flank and challenge its entrenched leadership.
Steve and Sue Mandel, wealthy Democrat donors from Greenwich, Connecticut, have committed at least $20 million to a network of political groups aimed at elevating more moderate candidates, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal.
Their operation includes at least three organizations designed to confront the party's existing power structure and potentially reshape Democratic politics ahead of the 2028 presidential election. At the center is Majority Democrats, which is working to boost candidates who can appeal beyond the party's progressive base.
Another group, The Bench, focuses on identifying and backing rising political talent, while the Searchlight Institute is crafting more centrist policy ideas in hopes of making Democrats competitive again nationally.
The couple is taking an unusually hands-on role, closely tracking campaigns and working with Seth London, a seasoned Democrat consulanted who served a stint in the Obama White House as Legislative Assistant and Associate Director. The billionaire couple's effort has already drawn additional funding from political and media power players, including former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and James Murdoch, according to the Journal.
The effort underscores growing frustration among some deep-pocketed Democratic donors who argue the party has lost touch with ordinary voters and desperately needs an overhaul. Rather than demanding ideological purity, the Mandel-backed groups are prioritizing candidates with strong personal stories and proven ability to win elections.
However, as the Journal points out, the Mandels' political investments have not always paid off:
During this year's Senate race in Michigan, it threw its support behind Mallory McMorrow, a telegenic state senator and self-described "pragmatist" who had been a client of Smith's.
McMorrow dropped out less than a month before the primary, and Abdul El-Sayed, from the party's left, won. Democrats who didn't support El-Sayed traded blame. Proponents of The Bench criticized Washington groups for helping the other moderate candidate, Haley Stevens.
A former Stevens adviser had the opposite takeaway: The Bench had made the race more costly and complicated.
Addtionally, critics on the far left were quick to dismiss the effort.
"The Mandels' approach represents the same Democratic establishment with some new seasoning on top," said Usamah Andrabi, spokesman for the far-left Justice Democrats, told the Journal. "That's simply not what the party's voters are looking for right now."
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