The Hillary Clinton campaign released a list of bundlers Wednesday, the same day quarterly documents were filed with the Federal Elections Commission. The bundlers, who have raised more than $100,000 for the primary to earn the distinction, are affectionally labeled Hillblazers by the campaign. In 2008, the bundlers were known as HillRaisers.
There are over one hundred individuals, couples, and groups listed by the campaign. There are some noteworthy names, including former Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN), Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Haim Saban, and power couple Sean Eldridge and Chris Hughes. Senator Bayh did support Clinton in 2008, but was later weighed as a possible running mate for then-Senator Obama. Rep. Castro is a rising star in the Democratic Party and both he and his brother have been talked about as possible running mates for Clinton. Saban is a billionaire media mogul who is very active on causes related to Israel. Saban recently got Clinton to come out against the Israeli boycott movement. Finally, Eldridge and Hughes are a prominent gay couple who are politically-active. Eldridge ran for the House in 2014, but lost by about thirty percentage points. Hughes currently owns the New Republic, a liberal news magazine.
Bundlers typically enjoy higher access to the candidate and are able to push personal issues. Bundlers often receive appointments as ambassadors to countries and other administration jobs. President Obama has caused some controversy with the large number of bundlers he has appointed. Eric Holder was a bundler for the Obama campaign before being appointed as Attorney General of the United States.