Allen Blue is a technology executive and Democratic political donor. Blue, along with Reid Hoffman and other founders from PayPal and SocialNet, launched LinkedIn in 2002. Since 2014, Blue has made contributions to various Democratic Party politicians and Democratic Party-aligned political action committees (PACs). Blue spent over $800,000 to help elect Democratic Party candidates during the 2020 election cycle. [1]
Background
Allen Blue attended Stanford University and received a bachelor of arts in drama and English in 1990. [2] Blue’s academic concentration focused on scenic design for theatre, and for seven years after graduating he worked in theater production until he met Reid Hoffman and was offered a product design and co-founder position with Hoffman’s company SocialNet, the predecessor to LinkedIn. [3]
Political Contributions
Since 2014, Allen Blue has made contributions to various Democratic Party candidates and PACs. [4]
In 2014, Blue made political contributions to Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) ($5,200), Al Franken (D-MN) ($1000), and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) ($500). He also supported then-Rep. Bruce Bailey (D-IA) ($500) in his unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate from Iowa Senate seat and the failed reelection campaign of Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) ($2,700). [5]
In 2020, Blue made political contributions to committees supporting the the 2020 presidential campaign of Joe Biden ($213,000), DigiDems ($279,500), Democratic National Committee ($71,000), PAC to the Future ($10,000), Georgia Federal Elections Committee ($7,100), Rep. Nancy Pelosi congressional campaign (D-CA) ($5,600) and Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund ($46,100), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ($71,100), Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) ($5,600), Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO)($2,800), Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA)($2,800), Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) ($2,800), Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) ($5,600), and many others. [6]
Digdems
Allen Blue contributed close to $279,500 during the 2020 election cycle to the Digidems PAC, an organization that since 2018 provides cybersecurity and data-analytics services to Democratic Party campaigns. [7] The organization has to date supported 104 House of Representatives campaigns, 28 Senate campaigns, and 3 gubernatorial campaigns. [8]