Wall Street’s $ 2.9 billion political donations: who spent, received the most
- Wall Street spent a record $ 2.9 billion on campaign donations and lobbying in 2019 and 2020, according to a report.
- He made a large donation in favor of Biden rather than Trump. Bloomberg LP was the main donor.
- Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, received more money than any current member of Congress.
- See more stories on the Insider business page.
Financial services companies and professional associations, along with their employees, spent a record $ 2.9 billion on campaign donations and lobbying during the 2019-20 election cycle, according to a new report by the Americans for Financial Reform (AFR).
Bloomberg LP, founded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has spent the most money, and Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat from Georgia, has received more money than any other current member of Congress, according to the report.
The industry spent about 2.5 times more money electing President Joe Biden than re-electing former President Donald Trump, the data shows.
Total spending was about 50% higher than the previous record, when the
financial services industry
spent $ 2 billion in the 2015-2016 election cycle.
Read more: The Great GOP Migration: How South Florida Became a Shadow Capital for Trump Tories
The financial services industry donated $ 1.96 billion to House, Senate and Presidential candidates running for election in the 2019-20 election cycle, and spent $ 932.9 million for lobbying in 2019 and 2020, according to the report.
AFR based its analysis on contributions reported by financial services companies and professional associations and individual employees between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2020. CNBC first reported on its findings.
Bloomberg LP donated the most money
In total, nearly 600 financial sector companies and trade associations spent at least $ 500,000 on contributions and lobbying in 2019 and 2020, according to the report. He added that there were over 2,000 registered lobbyists working in the sector.
These are the 20 companies and associations that have spent the most, according to AFR:
- Bloomberg LP – $ 158.9 million
- National Association of Realtors (NAR) – $ 154.3 million
- Fahr LLC – $ 70.7 million
- Citadel LLC – $ 69.3 million
- Blackstone Group – $ 49.5 million
- Charles Schwab & Co – $ 35.6 million
- Susquehanna International Group – $ 30.7 million
- American Bankers Association (ABA) – $ 26.6 million
- Paloma Partners – $ 25.5 million
- Bain Capital – $ 22.0 million
- Renaissance Technologies – $ 21.3 million
- Stephens Group – $ 18.4 million
- Elliott Management – $ 17.0 million
- Wells Fargo – $ 16.8 million
- Intercontinental Exchange Inc. – $ 16.2 million
- Lone Pine Capital – $ 15.2 million
- Ryan Specialty Group – $ 15.1 million
- Euclidean Capital – $ 14.4 million
- American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) – $ 13.9 million
- Securities Industry & Financial Market Association (SIFMA) – $ 13.8 million
Mike Bloomberg briefly ran for president before investing his fortune to help Biden beat Trump.
Who received the funding
The financial services industry made $ 982.8 million in party-coded contributions in 2019 and 2020 through donations from individual employees and PACs, according to the report. Of that total, 47% went to Republicans and 53% to Democrats.
Current congressional candidates have received $ 311 million in financial sector contributions to their campaign committees and executive PACs, according to AFR.
The 10 current members of Congress who received the largest amounts were:
- Senator Jon Ossoff (D-GA) – $ 6.5 million
- Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) – $ 6.3 million
- Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) – $ 6.2 million
- Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) – $ 5.5 million
- Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) – $ 5.3 million
- Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) – $ 5.1 million
- Senator John Hickenlooper (D-CO) – $ 4.9 million
- Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) – $ 4.8 million
- Senator (D-MI) – $ 4.7 million
- Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) – $ 4.5 million
These donations were eclipsed by contributions to some candidates who ran for re-election but did not retain their seats. Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, both contenders for the Georgia Senate, have each received more than $ 9 million in donations from the financial services industry.
Wall Street “appears to have made a special effort to preserve Republican control of the Senate both to lock down pro-industry measures adopted under the Trump administration and to prevent reform under President Biden,” writes AFR in the report. .
David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
Jessica McGowan / Getty Images
Despite almost equal support for Democratic and Republican candidates, the industry has made an overwhelming donation to Biden’s presidential campaign against Trump.
The finance, insurance and real estate industry contributed $ 252.6 million to Biden’s campaign and the outside groups that support him – more than double the $ 103.3 million given to Trump, according to AFR.
In the aftermath of the January uprising on Capitol Hill, dozens of major U.S. companies suspended political donations, including Walmart, Amazon, Morgan Stanley, Dow and AT&T. Some have stopped donating to Democrats and Republicans, and some specifically to the 147 GOP lawmakers who voted against Biden’s certification as president.
