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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
HomeNewsElectionsWall Street Donations Continue Funding Democrats, Solidifying Trend

Wall Street Donations Continue Funding Democrats, Solidifying Trend

Graphic concept taking a magnifying glass to Wall Street. (Photo: AdobeStock)

Despite Hedging, Democrats Are Now the Party of Wall Street in Trump Era

Graphic concept taking a magnifying glass to Wall Street. (Photo: AdobeStock)
Graphic concept taking a magnifying glass to Wall Street. (Photo: AdobeStock)

Wall Street donations have shifted significantly over the last two cycles. While the securities and finance industry still hedges on campaign contributions, Democrats have decidedly become the party of Wall Street in the era of Donald Trump.

The Republican Party, long branded as the party of big business, is no longer the top recipient of campaign contributions from Wall Street. In 2018, the industry donated more to Democrats than Republicans for the first time in a decade.

In 2018, Democratic candidates and political action committees (PACs) received $66,671,595 in Wall Street campaign contributions, or roughly 62% of the total $107,565,737. Republicans received $40,531,178, or roughly 37.7% of total in donations from the securities and finance industry.

That’s the largest disparity between the parties for a midterm election cycle over the 30-year period researched by People’s Pundit Daily (PPD). The last time Democrats outpaced Republicans on Wall Street donations was in 2008, when George W. Bush relied on his political opposition to pass the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

The data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics cover Wall Street donations dating from 1990 to 2020 released by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as of Friday, August 21, 2020. The figures are based on contributions from PACs and individuals who gave ≥ $200.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton received more than 80% of the total contributions from the securities and finance industry. That compares to the paltry 19% contributed to then-Republican nominee Donald Trump. This disparity continues in the era of Donald Trump.

In 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden received $4,914,998 in Wall Street donations by August 21, compared to $1,450,233 for President Trump. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., the nominee for U.S. Senate in a tough race against Senator Martha McSally, R-Ariz., was the third top recipient at $1,403,766. Of the top 10, only three are Republican recipients juxtaposed to seven Democratic recipients.

Former Vice President Joe Biden is also the top recipient for contributions from hedge funds ($498,489), finance and credit companies ($252,087), private equity and investments firms ($1,400,892), savings and loans ($22,634) and venture capital ($859,206).

Written by

Rich, the People's Pundit, is the Data Journalism Editor at PPD and Director of the PPD Election Projection Model. He is also the Director of Big Data Poll, and author of "Our Virtuous Republic: The Forgotten Clause in the American Social Contract."

Latest comments

  • It’s because they know Dems will steal money from the American people to bail them out. NOBODY should be getting bailed out other than TAXPAYERS.

    • Money, money, money …

      Isn’t it amazing that through the years (I’m 64) government continues to grow year after year? Nobody in the federal government ever loses their job, elected representatives take 1/3 or more vacation days per year, everyone has fabulous benefits and retirement plans … and taxpayers continually foot the bill.

      I’m disgusted and discouraged. Why, oh why, do people accept the argument that the answer to government-created problems is MORE government spending?? Feel free to pass this along the “comments” chain with your own edits.

  • They are all crooks but you ignore the Bush and Trump tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefited the top 1%, especially the top 0.1%. Us peasants got crumbs.

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