Top Democratic donor Tom Steyer leads the list of guests House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has invited to sit in the House viewing gallery when Pope Francis makes an historic address to a joint session of Congress on Thursday.
Ex-hedge fund manager Steyer is from Pelosi’s San Francisco, Calif., district. He’ll be joined by fellow Democratic donor and tech industry billionaire Marc Benioff. Both will be accompanied by their partners, Kat Taylor and Lynne Benioff, respectively.
In the 2014 election cycle, Steyer, a green energy advocate, donated $74 million to Democratic political action committees and candidates.
Many expect Pope Francis to address climate change in his speech to Congress.
Benioff has spent only a fraction of that on political causes, much of it to support gun control.
Pelosi has also invited Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay Henry and Matilda Cuomo, widow of the late New York Gov. Mario Cuomo.
Pelosi’s husband, Paul, will get a seat in the gallery as well as Pelosi’s brother and former Baltimore Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro III.
