WASHINGTON – When Evan Bayh went to work for the New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management after leaving the U.S. Senate, he didn’t just get a $2 million job.

He also found some of the people who would become his largest campaign funders as he now tries to return to the Senate in one of the most closely watched races in the nation.

Twenty-three Apollo Global employees and their family members have contributed to Bayh’s campaign, including 15 who gave him the $2,700 legal maximum contribution, according to a CNHI newspapers analysis of more than 900 pages of Bayh campaign disclosure documents.

In addition, 33 attorneys with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, a New York-based firm that represents Apollo Global and other financial companies, each contributed $500 to $1,000 to Bayh’s campaign.

Bayh and his Republican opponent, Rep. Todd Young, have tried to portray the other as beholden to out-of-state interests.

Young spokesman Jeff Kenworthy leapt on the donations from Bayh’s former employers.

“It’s not enough that Evan Bayh has made millions working for private equity and lobbying firms. Now they need to fund his campaign, too. Evan Bayh is bought and paid for several times over,” Kenworthy said in a statement Tuesday.

However, Young is no stranger to out-of-state money.

Indiana residents contributed only about 40 percent of the $4.8 million Young’s campaign had raised from individual donors, according to separate analyses by the Public Interest Research Group and CNHI.

On top of contributions directly to the candidates, Young has benefited from the majority of the $34 million spent by outside groups coordinating their own advertising in the race, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign spending.

That dwarfs the $11.3 million raised individually by the candidates as of Oct. 20.

“Congressman Young has voted down the line with the special interests that are funding his campaign to hurt Hoosiers, all so he can get them to spend big and prop up his campaign,” said Bayh spokesman Ben Ray.

“From supporting tax breaks for companies like Carrier to ship jobs overseas, to cheerleading the (Trans-Pacific Partnership) even though it would hurt Hoosier employers like Eli Lilly, to calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme, it’s clear that Congressman Young puts his politics first over Hoosier families,” Ray said.

But only about one-third of the $1.4 million that Bayh has received from individuals since entering the race in July have come from people living in the state.

More of those giving the maximum allowable contribution to Bayh’s campaign are from New York than Indiana.

The contributions from employees at Apollo Global and its law firm are particularly sensitive for Bayh, who has been fending off a wave of reports about job hunting while still in office.

The Associated Press reported last month that Bayh spent a significant amount of time during his last year in the Senate looking for jobs in the financial sector, including meeting with Apollo Global officials .

The reports were based on a leaked version of his schedule. Bayh’s office has said the schedule was incomplete and inaccurate, but it hasn’t denied the meetings took place.

Many of Bayh’s largest contributors are executives at private equity firms such as Apollo Global and Bain Capital, asset management companies such as the Carlyle Group, and hedge fund firms such as Eton Park Capital Management. Multiple executives at the companies gave the maximum amount allowable to his campaign.

Among Apollo executives giving the maximum amount were lead partner for private equity Scott Kleinman, senior managing director Joshua Harris, partner David Sambur, senior partner Marc Becker, senior partner Eric Press, and  co-founder Marc Rowan. Apollo spokesman Charles Zehren declined comment. 

Bain Capital co-chairman Josh Bekenstein and former managing partner Mark Nunnelly also gave Bayh the maximum amount.

Carlyle Group co-founder and co-CEO Michael W. Arpey also gave the maximum, as did managing directors William Conway Jr., James Attwood, Gregory S. Ledford, David Marchick and chief financial officer Curtis Buser.

Donors from the private equity and asset management industries represent about a quarter of those who gave the top amount to Bayh’s campaign. He also received several maximum donations from real estate interests and attorneys.

Asset managers and private equity firms have a lot at stake in this year’s elections, according to an analysis by the investment bank FBR & Co.

Among the issues is a new Department of Labor rule requiring asset managers to give advice based on the best interests of clients, instead of the commission they would receive.

Private equity firms and hedge funds could also face greater disclosure rules and the elimination of a carried interest taxdeduction, the analysis said.

The securities and investment industry is also Young’s biggest source of support among business interests, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

He also received a number of large donations from those in the investment industry, including the maximum allowed contribution from former Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, who is now vice chairman of UBS’ investment bank division. Gramm did not return a message seeking comment.

Real estate interests and doctors have given Young the next-largest amounts.

In addition, the candidates have also received more than $2 million from political action committees — the bulk of which are based in Washington.

Among those giving Bayh the $5,000 maximum allowed for political groups was McGuireWoods, the Washington lobbying firm where Bayh also worked after leaving office.

Much of the $421,921 that PACs have given Bayh has come from labor unions and other Democrats in Congress. He has also received money from seven sugar companies or associations, as well as lobbying firms such as Squire Patton Boggs.

Franklin Square Capital Partners, a Philadelphia asset manager, also gave him the $5,000 limit.

The majority of Young’s $1.8 million in PAC support has also come from out of state, according to his campaign records.

It includes maximum contributions from the American Bankers Association and major banks including UBS Americas, Citigroup, Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, which are pushing for fewer regulations.

Young has also received maximum contributions from the major Republican donor Koch Industries, as well as a variety of industries including defense contractors Raytheon and Honeywell International.

The U.S Chamber of Commerce’s PAC was also among those that gave the maximum amount to Young.

Kery Murakami is the Washington, D.C. reporter for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Contact him at kmurakami@cnhi.com.