Meet Connecticut’s Billionaire-Backed Dark-Money Democrat

In Connecticut, incumbent members of Congress can be harder to unseat because of the state’s convention-driven primary system. The main way candidates get on the primary ballot is by a vote of delegates, who are selected from local party committees, at a statewide party convention. Winning a majority of delegate support is seen as a strong indication of support, though anyone who gets at least 15 percent of votes still makes the ballot. This process often favors those with established party relationships, institutional support, and existing political infrastructure. This year, however, one candidate seems to have flipped the usual script.

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On May 11, former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin secured the Democratic endorsement for Connecticut’s First Congressional District in a historic upset to incumbent Rep. John Larson (D-CT), a working-class progressive with a storied record of taking on corporate power. Bronin emerged victorious in the second round of the contested convention, defeating Larson by a relatively thin margin. They will face off once again, this time in the Democratic primary on August 11.

Bronin also counts himself among the roster of Democrats whose perceived electability and moderate politics have landed them a seat on The Bench, a months-old political action committee (PAC) dedicated to advancing “the next generation of Democratic leaders.” The Bench and Majority Democrats, another new PAC with seemingly identical goals, share the same fundraising arm—the Majority Fund—and operate a well-oiled machine revealed by The Lever last month to be “playing an unprecedented role in Democratic primaries,” funneling millions of dollars to boost corporate-friendly moderates “while sharing the same big-money donors, political consultants, and often the same policy proposals.”

Former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin secured the Democratic endorsement in a historic upset to incumbent Rep. John Larson.

The dark-money network is largely bankrolled by billionaire hedge fund manager Stephen Mandel and his spouse, Susan. They’re also the central backers of The Connecticut Project, which as the organization’s website states rather emphatically, consists of “two independent, distinct, and separately funded and governed organizations: The Connecticut Project, a 501c3 public charity, and The Connecticut Project Action Fund, a 501c4 advocacy organization.” The Mandels serve on the board of the Connecticut Project, and Susan Mandel is a member of The Connecticut Project Action Fund’s board.

Before kicking off his congressional campaign last summer, Bronin spent some time moonlighting as a consultant for The Connecticut Project, earning six figures for consulting services between 2024 and 2025. According to a financial disclosure filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives on November 28, 2025, Bronin reported $237,000 in personal income from The Connecticut Project.

One month after announcing his candidacy, the Mandels maxed out their contributions to Bronin’s primary and convention campaigns, giving a total of $14,000.

“The Mandels donate to many nonprofit organizations and political campaigns, and their spending decisions are their own,” Meghan Holden, director of marketing and communications at The Connecticut Project, said in a statement to the Prospect. “The Connecticut Project and The Connecticut Project Action Fund have no insight into, provide no input regarding, and make no appeals or solicitations for, their donations to other groups or individuals.”

She continued: “As nonpartisan nonprofits with the sole purpose of making Connecticut work for working class people, The Connecticut Project and The Connecticut Project Action Fund do not contribute to, endorse, or oppose any political candidates for office.”

A recent campaign finance disclosure reviewed by the Prospect shows that Luke Bronin for Congress paid $10,000 to a newly incorporated company for “general campaign consulting” this month; that company is the obscurely named Precinct LLC, which as The Lever reported, “appears to be a kind of central hub for the network.”

Precinct LLC’s managing director is Amy Copeland, a senior adviser at Majority Democrats, but the consultancy has direct ties to the billionaires behind the dark-money network. One such billionaire is Seth London, who signed Precinct LLC into existence in January 2025 after penning a memo where he made the case for, among other things, deregulating private industry, rejecting universal publicly funded health care, housing, or education, and embracing privatization, austerity, and military intervention.

The network is London’s neoliberal baby, and it’s growing up so fast. All he had to do was write a letter, and the big-dollar checks started rolling in.

THE BILLIONAIRE BENEFACTORS betting big on the so-called next generation of Democratic leaders are certainly not limited to the Mandels.

Michael Novogratz, co-founder of Fortress Investment Group and CEO of the data center company Galaxy Digital, and his spouse, Sukey, made individual contributions totaling approximately $13,000 to Bronin’s congressional campaign in March.

Last year, Clifford Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management, and his spouse, Laurel, maxed out their individual contributions to Bronin’s primary, convention, and general campaigns, donating $21,000 in total. Asness is a longtime GOP mega-donor who, according to CT Insider, recently donated to GOP Winning Women and the Sentinel Action Fund, which support conservative, corporate-friendly Republican candidates in competitive Senate races.

For their part, Stephen Mandel and Michael Novogratz are also betting big on the AI boom. Residents of Connecticut’s First Congressional District—and frankly, communities across the country—remain concerned about the impact that data center expansion could have on their electricity bills. Despite receiving significant funding from billionaires with a stake in the data center build-out, Bronin has called for regulation requiring data center developers to pay their fair share.

Comptrolling for the Public Good

Compared to Larson, who is 77 years old and a lifelong resident of East Hartford, Bronin hails from a starkly different background. He grew up in the tony suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut, and attended the esteemed private school Phillips Exeter Academy. Bronin worked as a corporate lawyer before he was elected mayor, and during his first year in office, he quickly developed a reputation for being anti-labor. Larson, by contrast, grew up in East Hartford’s Mayberry Village housing project, and attended public school; he later returned to the high school he attended to teach history as a public school teacher.

To be fair, Larson’s campaign has received substantial contributions from PACs representing businesses, corporations, and labor unions. CT Mirror reported that PAC spending accounted for nearly half of Larson’s fundraising between January and March. Moreover, multiple employees at the private equity giant Apollo Global Management, which is invested in the AI boom, donated to his campaign in March; Marc Rowan, CEO and chair of Apollo, contributed the maximum allowable amount to Larson’s campaign in September 2025.

“Luke Bronin has refused to take a single dollar of corporate PAC money, while John Larson’s campaign is fueled by millions of dollars from corporate PACs,” Bronin campaign communications director Akash Kaza said in a statement. “Just as he did as Mayor of Hartford, Bronin will be a fighter for Connecticut families, whether that means standing up to Big Tech or Big Pharma, or taking on a Democratic establishment that’s not doing enough to fix a broken system.”

On the heels of his convention victory, Bronin reportedly emailed a statement to reporters professing his deep respect for Larson, only to urge the incumbent to listen “to the message that was sent tonight by the most active, loyal Democrats in our party—that it’s time to pass the torch.”

According to Kaza, that loyalty is to the “grassroots activists who are on the ground in our communities, who are the most loyal Democrats and who know these candidates best, [who] made history last week by voting to endorse Luke Bronin over a 28-years incumbent.”