Local big names vote with big bucks Political contributions

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is full of Clinton loyalists. Many of the foundation's top executives donated to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign.

It's no surprise, considering their strong ties to the other Bill. Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the head of the Gates Foundation's global-development program, was deputy chief of staff for former President Clinton. She donated $1,000 last year to his wife's campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research group that tracks money in politics.

Other Gates Foundation donors to Clinton include Chief Executive Patty Stonesifer ($2,300), Agricultural Development director Raj Shah ($2,300), senior program manager Lawrence Yanovitch ($4,600), Global Health policy and advocacy director Joe Cerrell, who was assistant press secretary to Vice President Al Gore ($2,300), and the foundation's co-chair, Bill Gates Sr.($2,300). Bill Gates Jr., the Microsoft chairman, said he did not donate to any presidential campaign.

His father also donated $2,300 to Sen. Barack Obama. His wife, Seattle Art Museum director Mimi Gates, gave to Clinton ($2,300).

Four other Gates Foundation employees gave small amounts to Obama.

Tracking tech-tinged dollars in the presidential campaign through the Web site OpenSecrets.org shows Democrats winning the bulk of employee donations, at least at this stage.

Donors must list their employers, and individuals are limited to a $2,300 contribution each election cycle, though the primary and general elections are considered different cycles. Some supporters have gotten around the limits by donating to political-action committees (PACs) or other groups associated with candidates.

Besides the three leading contenders, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, has proved his popularity in the tech world, far outpacing Sen. John McCain in support from donors. Paul received twice as much money from Microsoft employees as McCain did, and five times as much as McCain from Google employees.

Among the leading candidates, Googlers leaned toward Obama, while Microsoft employees favored Clinton.

Only one Yahoo employee donated to a Republican candidate.

Among Microsoft donors, who contributed a total of $272,273 to the leading contenders as of Feb. 11, 54 percent of their funds went to Clinton, 41 percent went to Obama and 6 percent to McCain.

Chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie donated $2,000 to McCain, while attorneys Mary Snapp and Tom Burt, both deputy general counsels, donated to Clinton ($4,600 and $2,300, respectively).

Yahoo's donors contributed $67,050: 70 percent to Obama, 26.5 percent to Clinton and 3.5 percent to McCain.

Google donors gave $263,928: 71 percent to Obama, 26 percent to Clinton and 3.5 percent to McCain.

The top donor was Vint Cerf, the company's chief Internet evangelist and someone considered one of the fathers of the Internet, who gave $8,800 to Clinton's campaign.

Chief legal officer David Drummond gave $4,600 to Obama, and Vice President Elliot Schrage donated $2,300 to Clinton's campaign. Senior Vice President Omid Kordestani supported Obama with a $3,300 donation.

The McCaws, Seattle telecommunications pioneers, were solidly Republican but favored different candidates. Clearwire founder Craig McCaw gave $2,300 to John McCain, while his brother Bruce donated $2,300 to Mitt Romney.

Craig McCaw's wife, Susan Rasinski McCaw, former U.S. ambassador to Austria, hedged her bets, donating $2,300 each to McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was an equal-opportunity Democrat: He gave Sen. John Edwards, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton each a donation of $2,300.

Kristi Heim: 206-464-2718 or kheim@seattletimes.com

This story, published February 28, 2008 was corrected on March 15. The original version of this story incorrectly stated that Google chief legal officer David Drummond donated $4,600 to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign. His donation actually went to Sen. Barack Obama's campaign.
The original version of the story also said incorrectly that Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, contributed $2,300 to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. The donation was actually made by his father, Bill Gates Sr. The younger Gates said he did not donate to any presidential candidate.