Big Money

Big Money Breaking down the candidates' fundraising - and highlighting the explosion in outside spending Raised $654.6m Raised $536.3m The 2008 US presidential election saw Barack Obama demolish fundraising records, collecting a staggering $745m for his campaign. Four years later, the huge amounts of money involved in US politics show no signs of abating. A Supreme Court ruling in 2010 led to an explosion in election spending by outside groups called Super PACS (see below). The bars on either side show how much the two main presidential candidates have currently raised. Romney + Republican National Committee Obama + Democratic National Committee Which Industries Favour Which Parties? Donors working in certain industries, such as finance, are far more likely to contribute to Romney's presidential campaign. Lawyers, on the other hand, tend to strongly favour Obama. The graph below shows how selected sectors skew towards certain candidates. $13,651,524 $4,314,144 Communications/ Electronics $4,075,531- $1,377,503 -$1,574,338 -$6,312,201 Obama Romney Note that only donations made directly to the presidential campaigns, not to party committees or outside groups are displayed -$14,424,199 $10,044,385 - Health $18,898,596 $39,531,725 $9,177,189 $11,351,136 Small Donors Vs Big Donors Large individual contributions - categorised as those who give more than $200 - comprise the majority of both Obama and Romney's donations. The Romney campaign, however, depends to a greater extent on big donors, as seen below: Small individual contributions Large individual contributions (More than $200) (Up to $200) $213,257,046 $46,759,889 Romney 75.9% 16.6% $272,868,651 Obama $162,976,325 37.3% 62.5% The Romney campaign also received $901,524 from PAC contribution (accounting for 0.3% of the total) and $20,127,544 of 'other' contributions (accounting for 7.2%). The Obama campaign also received $512,631 of 'other' contributions, (0.1% of the total). The Gender Gap Although men have given more money to both Obama's and Romney's campaigns than women, Obama's donor base is more heavily female than his opponent's. Women tend to vote for Democrats, while men generally favour Republicans. A New York Times/CBS poll conducted in September found Obama had a 12-point lead among women, while Romney was up eight points among men. Obama Romney 29.0% 44.1% 55.9% 71.0% $79,824,131 Total Given Total Given $58,671,650 $101,371,291 $143,508,969 The Stingy And The Spendthrift The average resident of wealthy, northeastern states such as Connecticut and Massachusetts has given more than four times as much to candidates this election cycle than those living in poorer southern states like Arkansas and Mississippi. Note: Residents of Washington, DC - which is not a state - have given $14.29 per person. WA VT ME мт ND MN NH OR MA ID NY WI SD RI MI WY ст PA IA NJ NE он NV DE IL IN UT ww MD co VA CA KS мо KY NC TN OK AZ AR SC NM GA MS AL LA FL AK $3,16 Average donation $3.20 $3.00 $2.80 $2.60 $2.40 $2.20 $2.00 $1.80 $1.60 $1.40 $0.57 $1.20 $1.00 $0.80 $0.60 $0.40 $0.20 Connecticut (CT). wMassachusetts (MA) Idaborgia (GA) Ornido (Co Florida (Empshire (NH) SOU sland (RI) pinia (wy) ansas (AR) ngton (WA) (MI) ania (p.D Rise Of The Super PAC In 2010, the US Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that corporations and unions may legally donate unlimited amounts of money to support a certain candidate. This can be done through vehicles called Super Political Action Committees, or Super PACS for short. Super PACS are allowed to raise as much money as they want, provided they do not co-ordinate or have contact with the politician the group supports. Opinion polls have shown the Citizens United ruling is unpopular with the public. But that has not stopped more than 150 Super PACS from spending $234,460,387 on the 2012 election cycle so far. Seventy per cent of Super PAC spending has opposed a certain candidate, whereas only 30 per cent has supported a candidate, according to Sunlight Foundation. The six biggest-spending Super PACS, to date: Restore Our Future • Has spent $82,491,530 • Supports Romney campaign • http://restoreourfuture.com/ American Crossroads • Has spent $18,954,717 • Supports a variety of conservative candidates • http://www.americancrossroads.org/ Club for Growth • Has spent $12,230,047 • Supports pro-business conservatives • http://www.clubforgrowth.org/ GROWTH MAJORITY PAC RESTORE OUR FUTURE PRIORITIES American. Crossroads WINNING OUR FUTURE ACTION Priorities USA Action • Has spent $27,228,062 • Supports Obama campaign • http://www.prioritiesusaaction.org/ Winning Our Future • Has spent $17,003,039 • Supported Gingrich campaign • http://www.winningourfuture.com/ Majority PAC • Has spent $10,999,756 • Supports Democratic Senate candidates • http://www.majority2012.com/ The Biggest Spenders Who are the biggest individual donors to outside spending groups such as Super PACS? 2 $16,000,000 Robert Perry $36,250,000 Sheldon and Miriam Adelson Have given to groups supporting Newt Gingrich, Romney, and the Congressional Leadership Fund, a Super PAC supporting congressional Republicans Has given to groups supporting Romney, Rick Per,. Texas Senate candidate David Dewhurst, and American Crossroads (see above) $4,000,000 5 4 $4,735,000 $15,740,000 Harold and Annette Simmons 3 Peter Thiel James Simons Have given to groups supporting Rick Santorum, Gingrich, Romney, Texas Senate candidate Dewhurst, and American Crossroads (see above) Has given to the Club for Growth (see above) and groups supporting Ron Paul Has given to Majority PAC (see above) and groups supporting Obama Other big names included: 31 $1,275,000 George Soros* Has given to Majority PAC (see above) and House Majority PAC, a Super PAC supporting congressional Democrats 41 $1,000,000 Bill Maher Has given to groups supporting Obama 41 $1,000,000 Morgan Freeman Has given to groups supporting Obama $3,118,738 Michael Bloomberg 10 Has given to the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Action Fund *George Soros recently pledged to give $1m to a pro-Obama Super PAC and $500,000 to two other PACS in addition to the amount shown above. The Most Expensive Races The impact of big money is felt even more in congressional elections, where an infusion of several hundred thousand dollars can change the course of the contest more easily than in the presidential race. The four most expensive congressional races so far are: Missouri Senate Connecticut Senate Texas Senate Massachusetts Senate $33,498,318 $19,838,073 $19,219,095 $37,909,656 Former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon is making her Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill Archconservative Ted Cruz, the former solicitor general of Texas, surprisingly defeated the establishment favourite, Nationally prominent law professor Elizabeth Warren is seeking to unseat the moderate Republican incumbent, Scott Brown, in this election cycle's marquee Senate race. now leads in the polls after her challenger, Republican congressman Todd Akin, stated in August that victims of "legitimate rape" rarely become pregnant. second bid for a Senate seat, spending millions of dollars of her own money against Democratic congressman Chris Murphy. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst for the Republican nomination after a fiercely fought and heavily funded primary. After winning the Republican nomination in Texas, a conservative state, Cruz is likely to cruise to victory in November over Democratic candidate Paul Sadler. Sources: Current Spending The New York Times, http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/campaign-finance Which Industries Favour Which Parties? OpenSecrets, http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/sectorallc.php Small Donors Vs. Big Donors OpenSecrets, http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/sourceall.php?cycle=2012 The Gender Gap OpenSecrets, http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/donordemCID.php?id=N00009638 http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/national-politics/20120914-polls-give-obama-advantage- on-economy-show-him-leading-in-key-battleground-states.ece The Stingy And The Spendthrift OpenSecrets, http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/pres_stateAll.php?list=all US Census Rise Of The Super PAC Sunlight Foundation, http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/outside-spending/super-pacs/ ALJAZEERA The Biggest Spenders OpenSecrets, http://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/summ.php?disp=D The New York Times, http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/soros-gives-1-million-to-democratic-super-pac/ The Most Expensive Races OpenSecrets, http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topraces.php?cycle=2012&display=allcands Information correct as of 2 October 2012 Energy & Natural Resources & Real Estate Finance, Insurance Agribusiness wyers & Lobbyists ing (WY) Virg (CA) as (TX) New nois (IL) erse tana dexico (NM) Mexi Alaska e Don dre (DE) enns Anz Mich Mise ina (NC) s (KS) wa (IA D D) akota (S barna A arolina (SC) (MS) Dakota (ND) Wisco MERIGA