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A's owner John Fisher backs ultra-longshot GOP presidential candidate
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Terrence Clay
Jul 19, 2023, 6:51:37 PM7/19/23
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https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/oakland-athletics-owner-fisher-backs-doug-burgum-18205004.php
Fisher maxed out a donation to North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, whose primary prospects are just barely more promising than the A's playoff odds.
SFGATE
July 17, 2023
Updated: July 18, 2023 8:43 a.m.
You may not have heard of Doug Burgum, the North Dakota governor running for president and currently averaging 0.3% in polls of Republican primary voters.
Oakland A’s owner John Fisher certainly has, though. Fisher and several members of his family recently donated the maximum amount allowed under campaign finance law to Burgum’s ultra-longshot presidential campaign, according to FEC filings. As governor, Burgum has signed into law some of the nation’s most restrictive bans on abortion and gender-affirming care.
Fisher and his brothers Bob and William — all Gap Inc. heirs — each gave Burgum $3,300. Burgum, a Stanford business school grad like Fisher, needs all the help he can get: He’s running for president against Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence and a host of other conservatives with actual name recognition. FiveThirtyEight’s updated average of polling data shows Burgum garnering 0.3% of the primary vote, behind at least eight other candidates.
Fisher — a reviled figure in the Bay Area, even more so since the A’s have closed in on a move to Las Vegas — is a longtime donor to conservative politicians and causes. That said, it’s not immediately evident why Fisher and his family are backing a candidate whose chances of becoming president are just slightly better than the A’s playoff odds. (All major projection systems have the last-place, 25-70 A’s with a 0.0% chance of making the postseason.)
Burgum is a wealthy investor who made his fortune selling his share of software company Great Plains to Microsoft in 2001. The 66-year-old has been governor of North Dakota since an upset win in 2016. The difference between that race and his vanity run for president is that North Dakota has a population of 779,261, and the United States has hundreds of millions of people, most of whom are not aware of Burgum’s existence. (The 47-square-mile city of San Francisco, for instance, has a larger population than North Dakota.)
In a clear sign of how the race is going, Burgum’s campaign website offers you a $20 gift card if you donate $1 to the candidate, a naked attempt to get the 40,000 donors required to qualify for the first GOP debate. (The scheme was blasted as possibly illegal and certainly “desperate” by campaign finance law experts interviewed by the Daily Beast.)
Burgum’s website identifies “the economy, energy and national security” as his top priorities, but he nods towards other Republican staples. “Make no mistake, Doug’s a conservative on other important issues too,” the website reads.
As the New York Times reported in early June, Burgum has signed eight anti-transgender bills in 2023 alone. He also signed a bill that effectively bans almost all abortions in the state of North Dakota; there are exceptions for rape or incest only in the first six weeks of pregnancy, a period during which most people aren’t aware they’re pregnant. “After six weeks,” the Times reported, “the only exception is to prevent ‘death or a serious health risk.’”
Fisher isn’t the only Bay Area billionaire to donate to Burgum’s campaign. William Oberndorf, the conservative benefactor who helped bankroll the recall of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, also gave $3,300, according to FEC records.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OaklandAthletics/comments/152mru3/as_owner_john_fisher_backs_ultralongshot_gop/
Fisher maxed out a donation to North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, whose primary prospects are just barely more promising than the A's playoff odds.
SFGATE
July 17, 2023
Updated: July 18, 2023 8:43 a.m.
You may not have heard of Doug Burgum, the North Dakota governor running for president and currently averaging 0.3% in polls of Republican primary voters.
Oakland A’s owner John Fisher certainly has, though. Fisher and several members of his family recently donated the maximum amount allowed under campaign finance law to Burgum’s ultra-longshot presidential campaign, according to FEC filings. As governor, Burgum has signed into law some of the nation’s most restrictive bans on abortion and gender-affirming care.
Fisher and his brothers Bob and William — all Gap Inc. heirs — each gave Burgum $3,300. Burgum, a Stanford business school grad like Fisher, needs all the help he can get: He’s running for president against Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pence and a host of other conservatives with actual name recognition. FiveThirtyEight’s updated average of polling data shows Burgum garnering 0.3% of the primary vote, behind at least eight other candidates.
Fisher — a reviled figure in the Bay Area, even more so since the A’s have closed in on a move to Las Vegas — is a longtime donor to conservative politicians and causes. That said, it’s not immediately evident why Fisher and his family are backing a candidate whose chances of becoming president are just slightly better than the A’s playoff odds. (All major projection systems have the last-place, 25-70 A’s with a 0.0% chance of making the postseason.)
Burgum is a wealthy investor who made his fortune selling his share of software company Great Plains to Microsoft in 2001. The 66-year-old has been governor of North Dakota since an upset win in 2016. The difference between that race and his vanity run for president is that North Dakota has a population of 779,261, and the United States has hundreds of millions of people, most of whom are not aware of Burgum’s existence. (The 47-square-mile city of San Francisco, for instance, has a larger population than North Dakota.)
In a clear sign of how the race is going, Burgum’s campaign website offers you a $20 gift card if you donate $1 to the candidate, a naked attempt to get the 40,000 donors required to qualify for the first GOP debate. (The scheme was blasted as possibly illegal and certainly “desperate” by campaign finance law experts interviewed by the Daily Beast.)
Burgum’s website identifies “the economy, energy and national security” as his top priorities, but he nods towards other Republican staples. “Make no mistake, Doug’s a conservative on other important issues too,” the website reads.
As the New York Times reported in early June, Burgum has signed eight anti-transgender bills in 2023 alone. He also signed a bill that effectively bans almost all abortions in the state of North Dakota; there are exceptions for rape or incest only in the first six weeks of pregnancy, a period during which most people aren’t aware they’re pregnant. “After six weeks,” the Times reported, “the only exception is to prevent ‘death or a serious health risk.’”
Fisher isn’t the only Bay Area billionaire to donate to Burgum’s campaign. William Oberndorf, the conservative benefactor who helped bankroll the recall of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, also gave $3,300, according to FEC records.
https://www.reddit.com/r/OaklandAthletics/comments/152mru3/as_owner_john_fisher_backs_ultralongshot_gop/
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