MacKenzie Scott donates $6 million to Latino voter group

Philanthropist and billionaire MacKenzie Scott has donated $6 million to the Voto Latino Foundation, providing a sizable financial boost to the organization’s spending goals for next year’s elections.

The foundation, which aims to educate and empower Latino voters, often takes positions that align with Democrats. Voto Latino said it helped register more than 601,000 voters for the 2020 election cycle.

In a statement Tuesday, Voto Latino founder and president María Teresa Kumar said the group was “profoundly grateful” to Scott, noting that the gift was “a significant step toward our goal of investing $50 million in the 2024 election cycle.”

“Mackenzie’s donation reflects her understanding that 2024 is bigger than politics; it’s about a thriving democracy that demands nurture and that by activating Americans to take ownership of their futures, our nation is richer and more resilient,” Kumar said. “Civic engagement has never been more critical.”

Scott, in a recent statement, called attention to the Voto Latino Foundation more than 300 other organizations, writing that each of them “could use more allies.”

“Grateful to everyone in the extended team who made it possible to give them gifts,” Scott wrote in a post, noting that more than $2.1 billion has been delivered in the past year. “Inspired by all the ways people work together to offer each other goodwill and support.”

Scott was previously married to Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon. She is the 38th wealthiest person in the world and has a net worth of about $34 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The donation to Voto Latino comes as both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, the front-runner in the polls for the GOP nomination, take steps to court more Latino voters heading into a potential 2020 rematch.

According to a November poll conducted for UnidosUS and Mi Familia Vota, 51% of Latinos leaned toward voting for Biden in 2024, while 33% leaned toward Trump. Sixteen percent said they did not know.

Recipients of previous Scott donations include Planned Parenthood and the Girl Scouts, as well as less well-known organizations like Mercy Housing, which works to create stable housing for people in need.

Scott’s organization, Yield Giving, has donated more than $16 billion to nonprofits, according to its website.