Lurie and his wife, Christina, have contributed nearly $150,000 since 1995 to various candidates and political action committees, according to an Inquirer analysis of reports filed with the Federal Election Commission and the state of Pennsylvania, along with reports collected by the nonpartisan Web site Opensecrets.org.
Lurie isn't the only local sports team owner involved in politics. Ed Snider, chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the Flyers and 76ers, gave money to John McCain's presidential campaign and arranged for GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to drop the puck at the Flyers' first game. Phillies chairman Bill Giles has given money to numerous candidates or committees, mostly Republican.
Lurie is a registered independent, but in the last decade he has donated to the Republican and Democratic National Committees - sometimes in the same year - to the presidential campaigns of Al Gore and George W. Bush. He has also given campaign money to candidates for local and regional offices, including former Philadelphia Mayor John Street; Gov. Rendell; both of Pennsylvania's U.S. senators, Republican Arlen Specter and Democrat Bob Casey; and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a Republican, among others.
In what Lurie called a first for him and with some trepidation, the Eagles owner is publicly endorsing a candidate for Tuesday's presidential election. In an interview with The Inquirer, Lurie said he is supporting the Democratic candidate, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, because "I'm proud of the opportunity to make a change here. What can I say? I'm not real impressed with the last eight years of this administration at all."
