Denver Broncos Owners Donated Majority of Total Midterm Contributions by NFL Owners

The Denver Broncos owners donated more than half of all money by NFL owners to the midterm races this year.

That per Front Office Sports.

Once again we are reminded you cannot keep politics out of sports, especially when you remember Prop. 134 in Colorado (Sex Requirement for School and College Sports) is about to pass.

Denver Broncos Owners Donated Majority of Total Campaign Contributions by NFL Owners

According to Front Office Sports, NFL owners donated more than $20 million to political campaigns and political action committees this midterm cycle.

And Rob Walton was chief among them. He donated $11.11 million alone, which was more than half of the total from all NFL owners.

No other NFL owner came close to this kind of spending, with Seattle Seahawks new owner Vinod Khosla spending $2.09M as the next highest spender.

Also included is Greg Penner, who donated $349,000 to right wing PACs.

From Front Office Sports' reporting:

"But Federal Election Commission records show that outside of Khosla and Blank, nearly every NFL dollar spent on Tuesday’s races went toward Republicans, led by the Walton-Penner family who owns the Broncos. Greg Penner, who is the CEO of the team and chairman of Walmart, gave $349,000, with most of it going to Great Opportunity PAC, a committee formed to back Tim Scott’s campaign in the Republican presidential primary that pivoted to outreach to Black and Hispanic voters for Donald Trump.

Penner is married to Carrie Walton Penner, the granddaughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton and the daughter of Broncos co-owner Rob Walton.

The elder Walton has been a major Republican donor in this cycle, as he has been in past elections. In all, he has spent more than $11 million backing Republican candidates and committees, with $7 million of that going to the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity, Inc., which has spent millions boosting Republican candidates in Senate battlegrounds."

All of the Walton-Penner's money went to Republicans and they accounted for 57.8 percent of all donations made by NFL owners during this election cycle.

Walton's money to American's for Prosperity didn't help as they went 1-4:

• Republican Mike Rodgers lost in the Michigan Senate race to Democrat Abdul El-Sayed by 7%
• Republican John Sununu lost in the New Hampshire Senate race to Democrat Chris Pappas by 15%
• Republican Ashley Hinson lost in the Iowa Senate race to Democrat John Turek by 3.5%
• Republican Jon Husted lost in the Ohio Senate to Democrat Sherrod Brown by 4.8%
• Americans for Prosperity's only win was Kurt Alme of Montana winning a Senate seat

The Walton-Penner group — and all NFL owners, among other ultra-wealthy people — are allowed to donate to political campaigns thanks to Citizens United being upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010 by a vote of 5-4. Since then, and especially in recent elections, ultra-wealthy donors have been increasingly trying to sway elections by throwing millions at races.

Blue-nami

In all, the country rejected the direction the country has been heading in.

Democrats gained at least seven Senate seats, with two races still to be called as of Wednesday morning. They lead 54-44 as of publishing.

Democrats also flipped at least 29 seats in the House of Representatives per NBC News and hold control there, with their projected number of total reps being 258. That would mean 57 seats flipped from red to blue.

The Dems will be in control of both the House and Senate for the next two years at a minimum.

Texas elected a Democrat Senator for the first time since 1988 and a Latina woman Governor for their first time ever. Meanwhile in Colorado a Dem is about to win CD-5 – representing Colorado Springs – which has never happened and Lauren Boebert (CD-4) is on the verge of losing her seat in the House as well.

This is a blowout the size of the Broncos blowing out the Chiefs 38-0 to end the 2024 season and make the playoffs.

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Rich Kurtzman was born and raised in Denver Colorado and attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins in the aughts. He's been a professional writer since 2011, covering Colorado State football and men's basketball, as well as the Denver Broncos, for many outlets. Current Denver Broncos work can be found on Mile High Sports. Previous credits include CBS Denver and The USA TODAY Sports Media Group.