LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman donated $8 million to the Wisconsin Democratic Party over five weeks, backing Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley against Republican Tom Tiffany. The donations came as the 2026 midterm campaign entered its final stretch, with election advertising spending at record levels and Hoffman’s past dealings with Jeffrey Epstein becoming part of the campaign debate.
Hoffman gave Wisconsin Democrats $8 million in five weeks
Wisconsin campaign finance records show Hoffman donated $2 million on September 24 and $1 million on October 2. He then gave another $5 million in two donations on October 5 and October 20, all to the state Democratic Party.
The contributions came as wealthy donors stepped up spending ahead of the election. In the past week and a half, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave $750,000 to Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa, while Y Combinator co-founder Jessica Livingston donated $150,000. Bloomberg had previously pledged to spend about $80 million this fall to support Democrats, with most of the money aimed at helping the party win control of the House.
Republican-aligned groups have also received large donations. On Tuesday, PayPal co-founder Luke Nosek gave $500,000 to Judicial Fairness PAC, which supports conservative judicial candidates in Texas. The group had already received $2 million from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. By the end of October, Musk had disclosed about $475 million in political donations, the largest known total from an individual donor in this election cycle.
Election ad spending tops $11.2 billion
More than $1 billion in political advertising was scheduled to air in the final days before Election Day, ad-tracking firm AdImpact said. Spending and reservations for the 2026 election cycle have topped $11.2 billion, breaking the previous record and exceeding the total for any past presidential election cycle.
Hoffman wrote on X on Friday that politics should be less influenced by money. But, he said, people who believe in the American ideal cannot stand aside when what he called “big money” is being used to keep “authoritarian clowns” in power. Federal Election Commission records show he also gave $8.5 million this cycle to House Majority PAC, a leading super PAC supporting Democratic House candidates.
Super PACs pool contributions, making it impossible to trace Hoffman’s donation to a specific advertisement. House Majority PAC has recently made Epstein-related ads a prominent part of several races. Over the past two weeks, the group ran 13 such ads, spending about $8.4 million and generating nearly 719.4 million impressions. It had not run any Epstein-themed ads before this month.
Epstein-focused ads enter competitive House races
The ads have appeared in at least six closely contested House races. They accuse Republican candidates of blocking the release of government files related to Epstein or highlight their ties to people in Epstein’s social circle.
In Arizona’s 2nd District, an ad titled “Justice” targets Republican Representative Eli Crane, criticizing his position on a vote concerning the release of the files and citing donations from people alleged to have links to Epstein. In Pennsylvania’s 8th District, “Predators” and “Teacher” target Republican Representative Rob Bresnahan. An ad called “Exposed,” released this week in Ohio’s 10th District, targets Republican Representative Mike Turner, citing a donation from an Epstein associate and Turner’s position on releasing the files. All three races are competitive and could help determine control of the House in the next Congress.
Hoffman’s past association with Epstein has also created a political vulnerability for Democrats. Hoffman has acknowledged visiting Epstein’s private island and meeting with him after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to sex offenses involving minors. Hoffman has said their relationship grew out of fundraising for the MIT Media Lab and has repeatedly expressed regret for continuing to associate with Epstein. He has said his last interaction with Epstein was in 2015 and acknowledged that attending fundraisers where Epstein was present helped rehabilitate Epstein’s reputation.
Hoffman has not been accused of involvement in Epstein’s sex-trafficking crimes. The Republican National Committee has nevertheless criticized Democrats for accepting his donations while attacking Republican candidates over Epstein-related issues. RNC spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre said Democrats oppose political donations only when the money does not benefit their campaigns.
The attacks have also reached Wisconsin. Tiffany’s campaign released a 15-second ad cutting together Crowley’s references to “Epstein” and “billionaires,” with a voice-over saying those people are funding Crowley’s campaign. The ad and campaign finance records show how large donations, candidates’ associations and the debate over Epstein-related files have converged in the final stretch of the election. Because super PACs pool their money, however, individual contributions cannot be directly linked to specific ads.