Oligarch Overload

Just 25 ultra-rich individual political donors, including numerous billionaires, have poured nearly $1.4 billion into super PACs in the decade since the U.S. Supreme Court opened the doors to a massive influx of big money in politics.

A Public Citizen analysis found that the political donations of these 25 people and their spouses amounted to nearly half of nearly $3 billion in total individual super PAC donations from 2010-2020, demonstrating the surging influence of mega-donors on American politics over the past decade.

Public Citizen also analyzed super PAC and campaign donations in more than 16,700 zip codes and found that the largest political donors in the top 10 majority white zip codes gave $1.85 billion from 2010 through 2018, while the biggest political donors in the top 10 majority-minority zip codes gave $179 million in the same time period.

Super PACs are political action groups that can take unlimited donations and make unlimited election expenditures so long as they do not directly coordinate with candidates’ campaigns. Their growth of Super PACs comes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision. That decision allowed unlimited contributions from corporations and wealthy individuals to influence elections. Individual donors are the primary funders of super PACs, which are required to disclose their donors, unlike “dark money” nonprofits, which are not required to do so.

Key Findings

Public Citizen’s analysis of Federal Election Commission data on more than 150,000 individual contributors to super PACs since 2020 found that:

• Just 25 ultra-wealthy donors have made up nearly half (47 percent) of all contributions by individuals to super PACs since 2010, providing about $1.4 billion in super PAC contributions out of nearly $3 billion in super PAC contributions from individuals.
• The five largest individual super PAC contributors donated a combined $838 million to super PACs, or 28 percent of all donations.

In the early years of the post-Citizens United era, the amount of money donated to outside spending groups was heavily tilted in favor of Republicans. But Democrats have become increasingly reliant on super PAC funding from hedge fund managers, bankers and other financial executives supplied. The financial industry represented 74% of funding for pro-Democrat outside spending efforts in the 2017-2018 cycle compared with 25% of funding for pro-Republican efforts, a 2019 Public Citizen analysis found. In the 2017-2018 cycle the top individual donors gave $359 million, or 52 percent, to outside spending groups benefiting Democrats and $312 million, or 45 percent, to benefiting Republicans.

Even before the rise of Super PACs and unlimited donations, low-income, majority-minority districts were highly under-represented among campaign contributions. The biggest donors traditionally have been highly concentrated in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago and other big cities.

For example, the top contributing zip code to presidential campaigns during the 2004 election cycle was 10021, on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Contributors in that one exclusive zip code sent $4.2 million to presidential candidates that year, according to a report on donations of over $200 by Public Campaign, the Fannie Lou Hamer Project and the William C. Velasquez Institute. That one zip code provided more presidential campaign money than the 377 zip codes with the largest proportion of African Americans and the 365 zip codes with the largest proportion of Latino or Hispanic Americans, according to the report. Public Campaign also analyzed the 2000 and 2002 election cycles found that nearly 90 percent of $2 billion in contributions of more than $200 came from zip codes that were majority non-Hispanic white. By comparison, under 2 percent of all campaign funds came from majority Latino zip codes and 3 percent from majority African American zip codes.

Another released in 2016 by Demos, found that, among donors to presidential campaigns that year, 91 percent were white. White men made up nearly half of donors that year, even though they are only 35 percent of the adult population. Whites made up more than 90 percent of federal election donors in the 2012 and 2014 election cycles, and 94 percent of donors giving more than $5,000 in the 2014 election cycle. White men were 64 percent of Trump’s donors but only 33 percent of Hillary Clinton’s donors. Both candidates relied on the wealthy for funding: Clinton raised 42 percent of her money from millionaires, who represent 3 percent of the adult population, while Trump raised 27 percent from millionaires, the report found.

Taken together, this research highlights the extraordinary influence of the wealthiest, most powerful elements of American society on our campaign finance system. While the country has become more diverse over the past 15 years, the gap in political influence between majority-white areas remains extraordinary. In a new analysis, Public Citizen examined the geographic concentration of both individual and Super PAC donors from 2010-2018 and matched that data to U.S. Census demographic information. Even controlling for the much larger size the white population in America, households in majority-white zip codes donate far more money than black or Hispanic political donors.

Zip Code Analysis

The analysis of political donations from 16,752 zip codes found that from 2010 through 2018:

• Political donors in the top 10 majority white zip codes for campaign donations gave $874 million to candidates, while the top 10 majority-white zip codes for super PAC donations gave $977 million, for a total of $1.85 billion.
• Political donors in 10 majority-minority zip codes for campaign donations gave $111 million to candidates, while the top 10 majority minority zip codes for super PAC donations gave $68 million, for a total of $179 million.
• Political donors in all 15,411 majority-white zip codes analyzed gave about $7 billion, or $84 per household, to political campaigns and nearly $2.8 billion, or $33 per household, to super PACs.
• Political donors in all 1,341 majority-minority zip codes analyzed gave $352 million, or $28 per household, to political campaigns and more than $100 million, or $8 per household, to super PACs.

Top Super PAC Contribution Zip Codes, Majority NonHispanic White

ZIP	City	State	SuperPAC2010-2018	Households	Median household income	Non Hispanic White
89109	Las Vegas	NV	$197,587,825	3972	$46,875	52.5%
10022	New York	NY	$169,620,382	17873	$133,208	83.4%
20036	Washington	DC	$111,941,268	4171	$80,977	72.8%
89145	Las Vegas	NV	$100,494,072	9614	$56,424	63.3%
20005	Washington	DC	$94,261,730	8172	$94,506	56.2%
10019	New York	NY	$76,129,783	24512	$99,063	64.5%
60614	Chicago	IL	$69,166,610	33591	$100,116	81.6%
60045	Lake Forest	IL	$63,766,938	7317	$176,108	91.7%
10010	New York	NY	$47,066,514	15972	$115,084	68.9%
60611	Chicago	IL	$46,645,483	20487	$96,040	75.8%
90067	Los Angeles	CA	$37,893,657	1342	$123,889	75.8%
10075	New York	NY	$35,791,129	11373	$129,594	83.3%
60603	Chicago	IL	$32,543,403	563	$140,114	58.6%
33301	Fort Lauderdale	FL	$28,862,211	7571	$85,219	78.9%
20003	Washington	DC	$26,136,608	12394	$118,607	68.4%
60606	Chicago	IL	$26,088,582	1979	$139,179	69.8%
33401	West Palm Beach	FL	$25,567,700	11221	$46,571	52.8%
72201	Little Rock	AR	$24,354,750	602	$69,118	74.6%
75219	Dallas	TX	$22,859,204	13990	$67,311	67.0%
82922	Bondurant	WY	$22,855,000	107	$83,510	100.0%
68131	Omaha	NE	$21,963,200	5495	$35,630	58.8%
11733	East Setauket	NY	$21,451,162	5613	$147,330	85.9%
10573	Port Chester	NY	$21,089,472	12360	$76,097	51.4%
30327	Atlanta	GA	$19,583,097	9333	$148,480	85.3%
75225	Dallas	TX	$18,602,724	8846	$173,828	92.6%

Source: Public Citizen analysis of 2010-2018 data from Maplight (campaign contributions over $200 ) Federal Election Commission (Super PAC contributions)

 

Top Campaign Contribution Zip Codes, Majority NonHispanic White

ZIP	City	State	Individual 2010-2018	Households	Median household income	Non Hispanic White
20005	Washington	DC	$232,095,563	8172	$94,506	56.2%
20004	Washington	DC	$163,742,226	1163	$144,583	73.1%
20036	Washington	DC	$138,287,162	4171	$80,977	72.8%
22314	Alexandria	VA	$111,721,751	17096	$122,689	76.8%
20003	Washington	DC	$65,782,614	12394	$118,607	68.4%
60611	Chicago	IL	$36,245,855	20487	$96,040	75.8%
22102	McLean	VA	$34,087,905	10400	$114,310	63.4%
22209	Arlington	VA	$32,156,215	7183	$106,424	65.2%
10021	New York	NY	$30,571,736	24912	$123,842	81.5%
10024	New York	NY	$30,285,758	28418	$126,107	80.0%
10022	New York	NY	$29,777,216	17873	$133,208	83.4%
10023	New York	NY	$29,235,762	33133	$123,951	76.2%
22202	Arlington	VA	$29,180,947	12940	$107,760	66.3%
20007	Washington	DC	$28,163,907	11885	$123,154	77.6%
22042	Falls Church	VA	$27,349,046	12190	$103,119	55.5%
22101	McLean	VA	$25,627,953	10457	$190,009	79.7%
20815	Chevy Chase	MD	$24,162,785	12953	$150,313	80.7%
19103	Philadelphia	PA	$23,982,924	14496	$70,638	75.5%
20016	Washington	DC	$23,628,056	13757	$140,545	80.0%
10128	New York	NY	$22,860,145	31644	$111,937	74.0%
22203	Arlington	VA	$22,694,110	11736	$104,171	67.8%
20008	Washington	DC	$22,071,823	15611	$120,342	75.3%
20814	Bethesda	MD	$20,750,965	12925	$120,632	75.1%
10028	New York	NY	$19,444,641	26435	$119,203	84.7%
10065	New York	NY	$19,323,942	15878	$124,322	85.0%

Source: Public Citizen analysis of 2010-2018 data from Maplight (campaign contributions over
$200 ) Federal Election Commission (Super PAC contributions)