He’s the composer behind the iconic, award-winning “Halo” soundtrack. His success in scoring and designing video games made him a personal fortune in the tens of millions. And now, at 70, Marty O’Donnell is spending his retirement and savings running for Congress — again.

After a fourth-place finish in the Republican primary for Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District in 2024, O’Donnell is now dipping even further into his pocketbook. So far, he’s sunk $3 million into his campaign for the same seat, $2 million more than he invested in the last contest.

“The Democrats are going to throw a big pile of money at this race,” O’Donnell said. “I’m not going to let a Democrat defeat me because they outspent me. That’s just not going to happen.”

Every election cycle, dozens of wealthy individuals decide to sink seven or eight figures into their campaigns for federal office. On paper, that cash infusion should allow for a candidate’s dream campaign: more staffers, mailers and ads, all without the hassle of fundraising or kowtowing to donors.

In the end, they rarely get elected. Last cycle, 65 people loaned $1 million or more to their federal campaigns. Only 10 of them were elected to office.

That dismal track record hasn’t prevented a fresh crop of 1 percenters from trying their luck.

Multimillionaire Don Tracy, who is running for a Senate seat in Illinois, said self-funding is necessary as a Republican running against a well-funded opponent supported by the Democratic “machine.” Billionaire Gov. JB Pritzker put $10 million toward the super PAC supporting the Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton.

“It is a bit of a David versus Goliath battle,” Tracy said. “But I do have sufficient means to have a good team.”

The longtime attorney served as chair of the state’s Republican Party, but if he gets his way this November, the 75-year-old’s first stint in elected office will be as a U.S. senator.

“These seats are very, very expensive to run for, and it’s unfortunate that it takes so much money to run statewide, but it does,” he said.

Source: Drudge Report