Exploring the top donors to GOP Electoral College objectors

Objectors
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are applauded by Republican members of Congress after they objected to the certification of the electoral votes for the state of Arizona during a Joint Session of Congress on January 06, 2021. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Hours after an angry mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol building Wednesday — a violent insurrection that forced lawmakers to evacuate, delayed the democratic process and led to the death of a Capitol Police officer — 147 Republican lawmakers objected to the Electoral College results on behalf of the president’s baseless allegations of fraud. 

The unprecedented move to overturn the will of the voters using the same unfounded claims that incited Trump’s supporters to attack the Capitol sparked widespread outrage. Influential trade associations, powerful corporations and wealthy GOP donors that helped elect these lawmakers were among those reprimanding them.

OpenSecrets compiled a list of the top donors to these GOP lawmakers’ campaigns and leadership PACs in the 2020 cycle. The dataset includes the top PAC donors, top individual donors and top industry donors to the Republicans who objected to at least one state’s election results. 

Their donors include some of the top trade association PACs such as the National Association of Realtors and the American Bankers Association, which gave the maximum $20,000 to several GOP members’ campaigns and leadership PACs. Former Iowa Congressman Jim Nussle, president of the Credit Union National Association, a top PAC donor to the Republican objectors, tweeted Wednesday he was no longer a Republican after witnessing “the actions of too many elected Republicans.”

PACs tied to telecom companies AT&T and Comcast Corp, along with defense giants Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon also make the list of top corporate PAC donors. Koch Industries, owned by GOP megadonor Charles Koch, comes in at No. 4. Koch encouraged GOP lawmakers to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.

The list of top PAC donors to the GOP objectors is similar to the list of top PAC donors to all candidates. That’s unsurprising, because business PACs donate most of their money to incumbents in both parties, particularly those in safe seats like many of the Republican objectors. Business PACs prefer Republicans over Democrats, who increasingly swore off these PAC donations in 2020.

Members of Republican leadership who bring in big money from nearly every business PAC, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Steve Scalise (R-La.), also objected to states’ election results. McCarthy said Friday he opposes impeaching Trump, a move supported by Democratic leaders and some Republicans.  

If major business PACs decided to cut off funds to the Republican objectors, they would severely hurt some of those lawmakers’ fundraising efforts. Republican objectors Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) all received more than 60 percent of their campaign cash from business PACs in the 2020 cycle. Luetkemeyer, who was first elected in 2008, brought in three-quarters of his money from business PACs in 2020.  

Most of those members reside in deep-red districts and don’t need money to win the general election. But PAC donations help them fend off primary challenges and distribute money to the party. Without raising big money for the party, lawmakers typically cannot gain seats on their preferred committees or gain a spot in leadership. Then there’s the money business PACs give to leadership PACs, which lawmakers often use as personal slush funds to live lavish lifestyles. 

Top GOP donors have distanced themselves from the Republicans who pushed to overturn the election results. Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, the No. 3 donor to GOP objectors and the No. 8 overall donor in the 2020 election cycle, said Wednesday he was “shocked and horrified by this mob’s attempt to undermine our constitution.”

However, few top donors have committed to backing away from Trump and his congressional allies. Many billionaire donors who bankrolled Trump and GOP lawmakers have gone largely quiet.

The GOP objectors received a large chunk of their 2020 cycle campaign cash from retired and conservative donors. But they also took in a collective $16.4 million and $9.9 million from the real estate and securities and investment industries, respectively. Registered lobbyists chipped in another $4.8 million, while affiliates of pharmaceutical companies added $4.5 million. The objectors also received $9.3 million from donors in the oil and gas industry, which is largely supportive of GOP candidates. 

Explore the OpenSecrets dataset of donors to Electoral College objectors here. 

Researcher Doug Weber contributed to this report.

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About The Author

Karl Evers-Hillstrom

Karl joined the Center for Responsive Politics in October 2018. As CRP’s money-in-politics reporter, he writes and edits stories for the news section and helps manage a team of diligent writers. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Karl graduated from State University of New York at New Paltz in 2016 with a B.A. in journalism. He previously worked at The Globe, a regional newspaper based in Worthington, Minnesota. His email is [email protected].