Philanthropist Connie Ballmer Contributes $750,000 in Support of Gun Control Ballot Measure

The check represents more than one-third of the money supporters of Measure 114 have raised.

Rev. Mark Knutson (R), Lift Every Voice proponent of gun-safefy measure 114, and adviser Elizabeth McKanna (L), speak to supporters during President Joe Biden's visit to Portland. (John Rudoff/Photo Credit: ©John Rudoff 2022)
By Nigel Jaquiss

Backers of Measure 114, which would require permits for gun purchases and would limit the capacity of magazines to 10 cartridges, today disclosed a $750,000 contribution from the Seattle philanthropist Connie Ballmer.

Ballmer’s check represents more than one-third of the $1.96 million the Safe Schools, Safe Communities PAC has raised in support of Measure 114. Three PACs opposing the measure have collectively raised $173,000.

Ballmer and her husband, former Microsoft CEO and now Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, recently gave Connie Ballmer’s alma mater, the University of Oregon, $425 million to purchase the campus of the shuttered Concordia University in Northeast Portland and turn it into the Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health.

Connie Ballmer has given generously in Oregon elections before, most notably $500,000 in support of Measure 98, a high school dropout prevention measure that passed in 2016.

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