By Cliff Montgomery – Sept. 30th, 2014
The U.S. Congressional Elections of 2014 will soon be upon us. It’s time for The American Spark to reveal to its readers who is buying the Democratic and Republican political parties.
We’ll begin by taking a look at the top donors to the Democratic Party. On Thursday, we’ll reveal the top donors to the Republican Party.
For this election cycle, The American Spark also will reveal which industries are spending the most money to influence this or that political party.
All numbers are based on information released by the Federal Election Commission on September 30th, 2014. The totals found below were first printed by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Democratic Party Donors
Total Raised: $595,494,498
Top Donors
Contributor ………………………………………………………… Total
Friends of Max Baucus: ……………………………………….. $1,175,500
Hoyer for Congress ……………………………………………… $993,500
Nancy Pelosi for Congress ……………………………………. $977,715
Friends of Jim Clyburn ………………………………………… $514,480
Wyden for Senate ……………………………………………….. $510,000
Blackstone Group ………………………………………………. $483,909
Levin for Congress …………………………………………….. $476,550
Walt Disney Co ………………………………………………….. $457,664
Becerra for Congress ………………………………………….. $451,000
Steve Israel for Congress …………………………………….. $450,095
Google Inc ………………………………………………………… $447,064
Microsoft Corp ………………………………………………….. $446,885
Friends of Rosa DeLauro …………………………………….. $439,750
University of California ………………………………………. $402,430
Comcast Corp …………………………………………………… $379,830
Gillibrand for Senate …………………………………………. $350,000
American Federation of Teachers ………………………… $348,050
Akin, Gump et al ………………………………………………. $338,813
Crowley for Congress ………………………………………… $320,000
Renaissance Technologies …………………………………. $314,200
Top Industries
Industry ………………………………………………………….. Total
Retired ……………………………………………………………. $32,188,099
Candidate Committees ………………………………………. $21,690,205
Lawyers/Law Firms …………………………………………… $17,208,126
Securities & Investment …………………………………….. $14,581,469
Real Estate ………………………………………………………. $8,812,526
TV/Movies/Music ……………………………………………… $7,597,211
Education ……………………………………………………….. $5,851,874
Business Services …………………………………………….. $5,515,470
Health Professionals …………………………………………. $5,513,114
Computers/Internet ………………………………………….. $4,940,008
Leadership PACs ………………………………………………. $4,006,537
Misc Finance ……………………………………………………. $3,748,887
Non-Profit Institutions ……………………………………….. $3,682,242
Casinos/Gambling …………………………………………….. $3,653,136
Printing & Publishing ………………………………………… $3,181,152
Lobbyists …………………………………………………………. $2,988,697
Civil Servants/Public Officials …………………………….. $2,285,950
Misc Manufacturing & Distributing………………………. $2,252,504
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products ………………………… $2,228,997
Insurance ………………………………………………………… $2,019,030
