Stephen King attends the premiere of “The Life of Chuck” during the Toronto International Film Festival in September in Toronto. Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP

Horror writer Stephen King hopes to be Maine Republicans’ worst nightmare on Nov. 5.

King, who is supporting Democratic candidates, tops a list of well-known donors using their wealth to try to help their preferred political parties win control of the Maine Legislature.

Others include far-right financiers Leonard Leo and Thomas Klingenstein, Portland philanthropist and former Democratic lawmaker Justin Alfond, and former Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon of Freeport, who is still sitting on unspent campaign funds from her losing bid to unseat Sen. Susan Collins.

Individuals and groups have given millions of dollars to Maine political action committees controlled by the political parties, special interest groups and individual lawmakers, according to campaign finance records maintained by the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices.

As of Oct. 7, those committees spent $1.5 million on races for the state Senate and House of Representatives, where Democrats are trying to defend majorities. But that figure will certainly rise in the final stretch before the election.

King and his wife, Tabitha, have given $430,000 to Democratic committees so far this year, making them the top individual donors. They have given $185,000 each to the official campaign arms of House and Senate Democrats, plus $60,000 to the Maine Democratic Party Committee.

That level of giving is up from 2022, when the Kings donated about $290,000 leading up to a hotly contested gubernatorial election.

The Press Herald was unable to reach King’s Bangor publicist to request an interview with the author on Friday.

Republicans, meanwhile, are getting a major boost from two prominent national conservative activists and financiers, Leonard Leo and Thomas Klingenstein. Leo has a home in Northeast Harbor. Klingenstein lives at least part-time in New York but has become a significant political donor in Maine.

The duo are putting their money into leadership committees established and controlled by lawmakers who decide how to allocate the support.

Federalist Society Executive Vice President Leonard Leo speaks to media at Trump Tower in 2016. Leo was advising then-President Donald Trump on his Supreme Court nominee. Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

Leo, an influential activist who played a central role in building the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, has given $225,000 through his organization, the Concord Fund, to For Our Future, a PAC associated with state Rep. Laurel Libby, a rising star in local Republican politics. For Our Future is the top donor to Libby’s leadership PAC, Fight for Freedom.

And Klingenstein has given $50,000 under his own name to Maine Issues & Action, a leadership PAC controlled by state Rep. Mike Soboleski, who earlier this year lost the Republican primary for the 2nd Congressional District seat in the House of Representatives.

Klingenstein, a conservative megadonor and chairman of the California-based right-wing think tank the Claremont Institute, believes the United States is currently in “a cold civil war” over the American way of life between “those who think America is good and those who think America is bad,” according to his website.

While Leo’s Concord Fund did not make PAC donations two years ago, Klingenstein was a major player in 2022, giving over $2.9 million to the Maine Families First PAC, which ran attack ads against Gov. Janet Mills when she was running for reelection against former Gov. Paul LePage. Klingenstein was the sole funder of the PAC. He also gave the Maine Republican Party $100,000.

Large donations to political committees that support individual candidates, such as those made by Leo and Klingenstein, would be restricted in the future if Maine voters pass Question 1 on the state ballot. The citizens initiative would limit contributions by individuals or groups to PACs that advocate for election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate to $5,000.

Individuals and groups would still be able to give unlimited amounts of money to political party committees and ballot question committees.

When reached by phone Friday, Leo said he didn’t have time to talk to a reporter. No one answered a New York City phone number for Klingenstein.

Democrats are also getting a $107,000 boost from Sara Gideon, the former Maine speaker of the House who tried unsuccessfully in 2020 to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Democrat Sara Gideon concedes her loss to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in November 2020. Sara Gideon for Maine via Associated Press

Gideon has donated $50,000 to each of the Democrats’ House and Senate campaign committees, as well as $2,500 each to the leadership committees controlled by state Rep. Matt Moonen, D-Portland, and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick. She has also given $2,025 to a leadership committee controlled by assistant House Majority Leader Kristen Cloutier, D-Lewiston.

Gideon ended her unsuccessful 2020 campaign with $11.5 million in cash on hand, but has donated much of that money to various in-state and out-of-state campaigns, causes and charitable organizations over the years. As of Sept. 30, nearly $3.8 million of that fund was still unspent, according to filings.

Former Senate President Justin Alfond, a Portland Democrat, remains heavily involved in state politics and donated $143,000 to Democratic state Senate and House committees this year. That also represents an increase over 2022, when he donated nearly $95,000.

Other major donors to legislative campaigns include former state Rep. Karleton Ward, who has given $20,000 each to the Republican House and Senate campaign committees, and Virginia Watkins, a Belmont resident who has given $40,000 to the House Democratic Campaign Committee.