Like with their wealth, the political power of billionaires through federal campaign contributions is also growing exponentially. This in turn helps them grow their wealth even more by pressuring elected officials to adopt tax, spending and regulatory policies that favor the wealthy and corporations.
Prior to the 2012 federal election cycle, billionaires gave a relatively small share of campaign contributions. That changed dramatically with the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision in January 2010, which enabled corporations and other outside groups to spend unlimited funds on elections.
All campaign contributions data, which is available here, is provided by OpenSecrets.org, Center for Responsive Politics. Data was available through the Federal Election Commission as of May 20, 2020 and includes contributions to federal candidates and to PACs, super PACs and other organizations favoring Democrats or Republicans. Amounts have not been adjusted for inflation.
Federal Campaign Contributions from Billionaires
Election Cycles
Billionaire Contributions as % of Total Federal Campaign Contributions
Election Cycles
Billionaire Campaign Contributors Are Heavily Concentrated
Billionaires Have Become Big Givers to Both Parties
Election Cycles