Industry Mostly Favors Bush, Republicans
By Trevor Thomas
NU Online News Service, March 26, 4:05 p.m. EST?The insurance industry made almost $14 million in contributions to U.S. political candidates as of early February, more than 68 percent of it to Republican candidates, the Center for Responsive Politics reported.[@@]
Analyzing the latest campaign contribution data from the Federal Election Commission, the center found President George W. Bush had received more than $2 million from companies, organizations and individuals in the insurance industry, out of a total of around $159 million his campaign had amassed at the time.
Democratic presidential candidates, on the other hand, had pulled a total of about $549,000 from the insurance industry. This was before the Democratic field had narrowed down to Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts as the clear favorite to win his party's nomination. At the time, Kerry had pulled around $152,000 in donations from the insurance industry out of his campaign's total receipts of $41 million.
The industry donated a total of almost $11 million to Congressional candidates, of which more than $7 million went to Republicans and less than $4 million to Democrats. Of the Congressional total, around $2 million went to Senate campaigns.
Surprisingly, although 46 Republicans received industry contributions, compared to only 40 Democrats, industry contributions actually favored Democratic Senate candidates, by $1.6 million to $1.5 million. In contrast, 220 House Republicans received $3.3 million, compared to $1.8 million for 181 Democrats.
Taken as a whole, the insurance industry represented the sixth largest donor to political campaigns in 2004. In 2000, the year of the last presidential elections, the industry placed eighth.
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