Campaigns

For our campaign finance homework, I looked up Senator Maria Cantwell. For her 2004 campaign, Cantwell had raised $1,794,461. Cantwell had self-financed 61.7% of the total amount. That is approximately $10,331,911. Over ten million dollars from her own pocket! The next greatest contribution was from individual contributions. This made up 32.3% of the total, rounding up to $5,406,386. The remaining contributions were from PAC and from the category, "Other." I was surprised to learn that several of the top contributors were Microsoft Corp., Boeing, Dreamworks SKG, Puget Sound Energy, and the MoneyTree. Even the University of Washington had donated $13,600! Wow, that's great.

Under the "Political Parties" category, the Republicans raised $889,752,453, and the Democrats raised $816,976,491 during the 2004 elections. The top five States for Republican contributions were: 1) California 2) Texas 3) Florida 4) New York 5) Michigan. The top five States for Democratic Party contributions were: 1) California 2) New York 3) Massachusetts 4) Florida 5) Texas. The highest industry contributions for the Republican party came from the Retired. The top five contributors were: Goldman Sachs, Hastert for Congress Cmte, Friends of Roy Blunt, Lewis for Congress Cmte, and the Federated Investors Inc. The highest industry contributions for the Democratic party came from Lawyers/Law Firms. The top five contributors were: John Kerry for President, Friends of Schumer, Goldman Sachs, Friends for Harry Reid, and Time Warner. The University of California came in sixth.

This was the first time that I had ever looked into this kind of information. I was very interested in learning about how much money goes into campaigns, and where the money is coming from. I was very surprised to find out that Senators or other members of congress spend so much money out of their own pocket just for a campaign--- just to become a member of Congress! Over ten-million dollars! (I didn't even know that they were that wealthy!) Of her top contributors, I was also surprised to find companies like Puget Sound Energy, or the MoneyTree. I didn't think that energy companies get to involved in politics. And the MoneyTree? Has it really become that big and great of an organization that they're donating thousands of dollars to campaigns?

I was also very interested in comparing the financial side of the campaigns between Republicans and Democrats.