The big spenders behind the super PACs

Here are some of the biggest financers of super PACs, the candidate-supporting organizations that can accept unlimited donations, as of May 31 according to data from the Federal Election Commission.

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Harold Simmons

Simmons, a billionaire, is the top individual super PAC donor so far this cycle. He has donated $13 million to Republican super PACs. He gave $11 million to American Crossroads, $1.1 million to Winning Our Future, $800,000 to Restore Our Future, and $100,000 to Restoring Prosperity Fund. Simmons was also a major donor to Newt Gingrich during the primaries.

Flor Cordero / Reuters

Sheldon and Miriam Adelson

Sheldon Adelson, Las Vegas Sands Corporation's billionaire CEO, has spent $16 million so far in Republican super PAC donations. He's giving $7.5 million to Winning Our Future, $5 million to Restore Our Future, $2.5 million to Congressional Leadership Fund and $1 million to Freedom PAC. His wife, Miriam, also made the big donors list, spending $15 million across the same groups, except for Freedom PAC. Adelson was also a big supporter of Newt Gingrich in the primaries.

Ed Jones / AFP/Getty Images

Peter Thiel

Thiel, the entrepreneur and billionaire co-founder of PayPal, has donated $3.6 million total to Republican super PACs. Thiel gave $1 million to Club for Growth Action and $2.6 million to Endorse Liberty.

Yuri Gripas / Reuters

Jeffrey Katzenberg

Katzenberg, the Hollywood movie producer and CEO of Dreamworks, has given $2.1 million to Democratic super PACs. He donated $2 million to Priorities USA Action and $100,000 to Majority PAC.

Dan Steinberg / AP

Foster Friess

Friess has given $2.36 million in donations to Republican super PACs. He gave $2.1 million to Red White and Blue Fund; $100,00 to Restore Our Future; $100,000 to FreedomWorks for America PAC; $50,000 to Leaders for Families Super PAC; and $10,000 to Club for Growth Action. He was a big donor to Rick Santorum in the primaries.

Andrew Goodman

Bill Maher

Maher, a comedian and host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher", has given $1 million to the left-leaning Priorities USA Action.

Damian Dovarganes / AP

J. Willard "Bill" Marriott, Jr.

Marriott, chairman and CEO of Marriott International Inc. and a pillar of Washington's business community, has given $1 million to Restore Our Future, a Republican super PAC.

Norm Betts / Bloomberg News

John Paulson

Paulson, hedge-fund billionaire and president of Paulson & Co., has donated $1 million to Republican super PAC Restore Our Future. He became a billionaire in 2007 by shorting subprime securities, according to a Forbes profile.

Mark Lennihan / AP

George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management, donated more than $1.1 million to Democratic-leaning super PACs, including $1 million to American Bridge 21st Century PAC, $100,000 to Majority PAC and $75,000 to House Majority PAC.

Michel Euler / AP

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES

epa03708924 Franziska (C) wears a helmet and carries a shield during the recreation of The Battle of the Teutoburg Museum in Bramsche, Germany, 20 May 2013. The everyday life of Romans and the Germanic people is depicted at Museum Park Kalkriese during the Romans and Germanic people days. EPA/Friso Gentsch

Photos of the day

Battle of Teutoburg Forest reenactment, Mars Curiosity rover drilling, massive tornado strikes Moore, Oklahoma and more.

A Burrowing owl tries to perch on a protective rope in a public park in Cooper City, Fla. Monday, May 20, 2013 as rain falls. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)

Animal views

Fun and fascinating creatures around the world.

ANNAPOLIS, MD - MAY 20: The Herndon Monument Climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the United States Naval Academy. The plebes climb to the top of the lard-covered 21 foot high monument and remove the 'dixie cup' hat at the top replacing it with an upperclassman's hat. After completing this, the freshmen are called 'fourth class midshipmen.' This class completed the task in 1 hour 32 minutes and 43 seconds. The hat was placed by Patrick Lien from Orlando. (Photo by Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)

The Herndon Climb

The Herndon Monument climb is the traditional culmination of plebe year at the U.S. Naval Academy.

This combination of Associated Press photos shows left, a neighborhood in Moore, Okla., in ruins on Tuesday, May 4, 1999, after a tornado flattened many houses and buildings in central Oklahoma, and right, flattened houses in Moore on Monday, May 20, 2013. Monday's powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the region in May 1999. (AP Photo)

Okla. tornado loosely followed path of 1999 twister

Monday’s powerful tornado in suburban Oklahoma City loosely followed the path of a killer twister that slammed the area in May 1999.

Lea Bessinger salvages a picture of Jesus as she and her son Josh Bessinger sort through the rubble of the elder Bessinger's tornado-ravaged home Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. A huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday, flattening an entire neighborhoods and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled against winds. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Tornado near Oklahoma City causes more damage

Rescue workers are searching for survivors after a twister carved a long path of destruction in a suburb of Oklahoma City. It was part of the...

FILE - In this undated publicity file photo, members of the Doors, from left, John Densmore, Robbie Krieger, Ray Manzarek and Jim Morrison, pose for a portrait. Manzarek, the keyboardist who was a founding member of The Doors, has died at 74. Publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald says in a news release that Manzarek died Monday, May 20, 2013, at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family. (AP Photo, File)

Ray Manzarek, founding member of the Doors, dies at 74

Manzarek co-founded the Doors after meeting then-poet Jim Morrison in California. The band went on to become one of the most successful rock-and-roll...

US actress Rosario Dawson smiles on May 20, 2013 as she arrives for the screening of the film 'Wara No Tate' (Shield of Straw) presented in Competition at the 66th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. Cannes, one of the world's top film festivals, opened on May 15 and will climax on May 26 with awards selected by a jury headed this year by Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLIALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images

Eye on entertainment

Rosario Dawson, Alec Baldwin, Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Bow Wow, Amy Poehler and more.

A man walks on sulphur and mineral salt formations near Dallol in the Danakil Depression, northern Ethiopia April 22, 2013. The Danakil Depression in Ethiopia is one of the hottest and harshest environments on earth, with an average annual temperature of 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius). For centuries, merchants have travelled there with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted and shaped into slabs, then loaded onto the animals before being transported back across the desert so that it can be sold around the country. Picture taken April 22, 2013. REUTERS/Siegfried Modola (ETHIOPIA - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

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Ethiopia’s salt trail

For centuries, merchants have traveled to Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression with caravans of camels to collect salt from the surface of the vast desert basin. The mineral is extracted...

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