April 22, 2025, 11:34 a.m.
GOP megadonor Peter Thiel is back.
The business magnate-turned-political-financier sat on the sidelines during the 2024 election, saying he would not fund candidates after a busy 2022 cycle. He donated heavily to two of his former colleagues: now-Vice President J.D. Vance in the Ohio Senate race and AZ SEN nominee Blake Masters (R).
Now he’s opening up his checkbook again as Republicans look to defend their narrow congressional majorities against what could be difficult political headwinds next year. Already he’s contributing more than $1.3 million in the first three months of the off-year.
All told, in 2022, Thiel spent more than $35 million, according to FEC filings, including $15 million to a super PAC supporting Vance and $20 million to a Masters-aligned super PAC. He maxed out his donations to various campaigns and wrote a few checks for the NRCC as well.
There’s a case to be made that without Thiel’s support, there would be no vice president Vance, who fought in a contentious GOP primary that President Trump also waded into.
Thiel took the last presidential cycle off because he believed his party focused too much on “hot-button” cultural issues, Reuters reported in 2023.
But the billionaire has been active so far in the first few months of 2025, according to quarterly reports. This time, Thiel has focused on House Republicans, the center of the political fight for 2026. Thiel has shelled out more than $850,000 to Speaker Mike Johnson’s joint fundraising committee, a mechanism that helps candidates line their coffers as the speaker fundraises. He’s also given more than $300,000 to the NRCC.
Thiel has given maximal donations to several vulnerable Republicans, including Reps. Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ 06), Don Bacon (R-NE 02), and Derrick Van Orden (R-WI 03). On top of that, he’s given to several future nominee funds and two state campaign committees, New York and New Mexico.
Republicans have a favorable path to retain the majority in the Senate, but cling to just a three-seat majority in the lower chamber. The party in the White House has lost an average of roughly 28 seats in midterms over the last 100 years, according to data from the American Presidency Project.
The Republican Party has historically run with fundraising deficits, as the Democratic Party has been better able to harness small-dollar enthusiasm. As such, the GOP has often relied on megadonors to fund campaigns.
But House GOP candidates are off to a solid start this cycle. Hotline reported last week that the GOP’s most vulnerable members raised, on average, more than $990,000. Their Democratic counterparts on average raised about $500,000 during the first three months of the year. That gap is likely to shrink as the election draws closer, but it’s a promising start for Republicans if they’re going to buck history. Republicans have the financial wind at their backs with Thiel back in the mix.
— James A. Downs
jdowns@nationaljournal.com
