Top Five States For Democratic Party Contributions example essay topic

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 Money Tree. 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 Money Tree.

I didn't think that energy companies get to involved in politics. And the Money Tree? 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. I'm Republican so I was glad to learn that the Republicans had raised over $70 million dollars more than the Democrats. It was surprised to find out that the State of California is the top State contributor for both Republicans and Democrats.

It was also interesting to learn that the top industry contributor for the Republicans actually turned out to be the Retired. After doing some campaign financing research, I haven't really figured out what accounts for the finance results. I just think it depends on the industry, the organization, etc. It just depends on the majority of the people in the state, or the owners of companies and for which party they stand.