Buffett Courtship

Warren Buffett’s check has caught the eye of Democratic party activists who have sought to lure the world’s fourth- richest man more deeply into political fundraising. Buffett generally has donated to Democrats or party organizations, not outside political groups.

Buffett and his daughter Susan both declined to be interviewed for this article.

The chief of Omaha-based Berkshire traditionally has relied on soft power, lending his name to causes. In 2011 he spurred a national conversation about taxes when he pointed out in a New York Times essay that he paid a lower rate than anyone in his office. President Barack Obama seized on the anecdote and outlined a minimum tax on high earners -- dubbed the “Buffett Rule” -- during his 2012 State of the Union address.

He’s also stirred debate about large inheritances. Buffett, 83, committed most of his wealth to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006. He distributes some of his Berkshire stock each year to charities overseen by his three children and one named after his late wife, Susan. He’s said the plan is to give his heirs “enough so that they could do anything, but not enough so that they could do nothing.”

Increased Giving

Yet Buffett’s check-writing has begun to change in recent years. In the 2012 election cycle, he donated almost $200,000 to campaigns and party committees compared with $28,400 in the 2010 cycle, according to federal and state records. He headlined fundraisers for Obama’s re-election, though he rebuffed solicitations by Priorities USA Action, a super-PAC supporting the president, said a person familiar with the talks who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.

At a May 2012 Berkshire annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Buffett was asked about giving to outside groups such as super-PACs, which raise and spend unlimited sums while not coordinating their activity with candidates.

“I don’t want to see democracy go in that direction,” Buffett said. “You have to take a stand some place.”

Former Nebraska U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey, who in 2012 tried to recapture the seat he held from 1989 to 2001, said he has refrained from pressing his friend to give to non-candidate accounts.