Anti-corporate Democrats accept money from corporate-funded PACs: ‘Hypocrites’
House Democrats Continue to Accept Corporate PAC Donations Despite Pledge
House Democrats who have vowed to decline cash from corporate PACs or tried to ban them pocketed large donations in the second quarter of 2023 from committees bankrolled by major corporations, records show.
Breaking Their Pledge
Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME), Mike Levin (D-CA), and Chris Pappas (D-NH) in 2021 and 2022 co-sponsored the Ban Corporate PACs Act, which would prohibit “for-profit corporations from establishing or operating a separate segregated political fund.” Still, the long-shot proposal hasn’t stopped the cohort and other Democrats critical of corporate PACs from taking tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions between April and June from corporate-backed leadership committees or, in some cases, corporations themselves, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
The Influence of Corporate Money
“Corporate money seeps all through the political system,” Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the left-leaning think tank Public Citizen, told the Washington Examiner, noting this reality makes it difficult for Democrats to follow an anti-corporate PAC pledge. ”I don’t object to the ban, but corporate money gets into these campaigns anyway through other vehicles — if not directly from corporate PACs.”
In the last several years, dozens of Democratic members of Congress have sworn off corporate PAC money to try to distance themselves from perceived special interests. The move has led to calls of hypocrisy from Republicans since many top companies have continued to pour contributions into Democratic campaign coffers.
Lobbyists and other government affairs staffers typically run corporate PACs and authorize donations, even though the committees fundraise from stockholders and senior employees, according to End Citizens United, a left-wing advocacy group.
Breaking Down the Donations
Golden, who in May 2020 said in an anti-corporate PAC money advertisement he is “fighting for the Mainers who work hard just to keep up with the bills,” has continued to have his war chest boosted thanks to corporate PAC-funded Democratic leadership committees. In backing the ban on corporate PACs, Golden said the “government should be responsive to the people, not corporate special interests.”
The Maine Democrat was on the receiving end of $17,000 in campaign donations from eight leadership committees backed by corporate PACs, according to a Washington Examiner analysis of second-quarter disclosures. For instance, Blue Hen Federal PAC, which is affiliated with Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), cut Golden a $5,000 check in June.
Levin received more than $20,000 in the second quarter of 2023 from 13 corporate-backed leadership committees, including those affiliated with Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Gerry Connolly (D-VA), and Sara Jacobs (D-CA), according to filings.
Similarly, Pappas received over $31,000 during the second quarter from 17 Democratic leadership committees funded by corporate PACs, according to a Washington Examiner analysis of disclosures.
Meanwhile, Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT), who said she wouldn’t take corporate PAC dollars, received $5,000 in May from Home Depot’s committee and $1,000 apiece from PACs for Voya Financial and Verizon in June.
Rep. Seth Magaziner (D-RI) accepted $22,000 combined in quarter two from 15 corporate PACs, including Visa, Verizon, AT&T, and General Dynamics. The congressman has promised to stand up to “corporate special interests.”
Campaigns for Golden, Levin, Pappas, Hayes, and Magaziner did not return requests for comment.
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