New Political Muscle Owner Gave To Schwarzenegger

Sam Zell - the new billionaire owner of this blog, the L.A. Times and other Tribune Company properties - has contributed to a handful of political candidates in California, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during his special election campaign nearly two years ago.

On the national stage, the Chicago property magnate appears to be decidedly post-partisan. Since the 1990 election, Zell and his family have given $181,500 to federal campaigns, parties and PACs, 49% to Democrats and 47% to Republicans, LA Observed says.

But Zell, who has a home in Malibu, has dabbled in California politics as well. He donated $7,429.33 to Schwarzenegger's political fund, the California Recovery Team, in June 2005. That's about when the Republican governor was amping up a November special election with four initiatives that eventually failed. The exactness of the amount suggests that Zell helped host a fund-raiser for Schwarzenegger, who has occasionally traveled to Chicago to collect cash from donors.

In 2001 and 2002, Zell gave a total of $6,000 to Richard Riordan, the former Republican mayor of Los Angeles, for his campaign for governor. And Zell donated $1,000 to Democrat Steve Westly's state controller campaign in 2002. Search for his donations here.

UPDATE: Zell's Equity Residential and Equity Office each gave $10,000 to the California Recovery Team in 2005, and those two companies also donated $5,000 apiece to Californians for Schwarzenegger 2006, the governor's reelection committee. In addition eight Zell employees have donated a total of $8,200 to Schwarzenegger's campaigns.

(Photo: M. Spencer Green/AP)