Corporate PACs are increasing their contributions to several Democrats who are in line to lead powerful committees if their party retakes the House in November, another sign of the burgeoning expectations for Democrats’ showing in the midterms.
The uptick comes as tensions grow in the party between lawmakers who rake in money from corporate PACs and the activists who decry such contributions as a corrupting influence.
Justice Democrats, an upstart PAC that backed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her surprise primary victory over Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) in June, will endorse only candidates who vow to reject corporate PAC money.
Another Democratic PAC, End Citizens United, has encouraged the candidates it’s endorsed to refuse corporate PAC money. A handful of Democratic lawmakers have said recently that they’d no longer accept contributions from corporate PACs.
Contributions from lobbyists and corporate PACs are the lifeblood of Washington fundraising, and many Democratic lawmakers say there’s nothing wrong with accepting such contributions to help retake the House.
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), who’s in line to become chairman of the House Rules Committee if Democrats control the chamber next year, raised about $139,000 from corporate PACs for his campaign and his leadership PAC, Mac PAC, in the first six months of this year — 38 percent more than he brought in during the first half of 2016. But he doesn’t believe the checks he’s accepted from PACs affiliated with companies such as Amazon, General Mills and Boeing make him any more sympathetic to their interests.
“For a lot of corporate PACs, I’ll be very honest with you, I’m probably a low return on their investments,” McGovern said.
McGovern supports campaign finance reforms that would curb the influence of special interests. But if Democrats want reform, “we need to be in charge,” McGovern said. “We need to control the agenda.”
In the first half of this year, nine House Democratic ranking members — compared with just three Republican committee chairmen — raised at least 10 percent more from corporate PACs than they did in the same period in 2016, according to a POLITICO analysis of data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The money is a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions — if not billions — of dollars that will be spent on the battle for control of the House. But the uptick shows big business eyeing the chances that Democrats could win in November and trying to make early inroads with potential party leaders. The contributions could help Democrats on their way to control of the House — but also could exacerbate tension within the party’s ranks over its relationship with corporate PACs.
“There’s definitely been an uptick,” said Arshi Siddiqui, a former aide to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who’s now a lobbyist at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. She said Democratic lobbyists who work in-house in corporate offices in Washington are making the case that companies’ PACs should give more to Democrats right now.
Republican committee chairmen still raise much more from corporate PACs than their Democratic counterparts, hauling in $4.6 million in the first half of this year — about 40 percent more than Democratic ranking members raised.
But corporate PACs — which are funded by employees’ and shareholders’ giving, not by the corporations themselves — are giving more to Democratic ranking members than they did in 2016, when the party’s chances of retaking the House were considered markedly lower.
The 18 Democratic ranking members who are running for reelection raised 16 percent more from corporate PACs for their campaigns and leadership PACs in the first half of this year than they did in the first half of 2016, according to POLITICO’s analysis. Republican committee chairmen who are running for reelection — eight of the 20 are retiring — raised 12 percent less compared to the same period in 2016.
Congressional Democrats hold roughly an 8-point lead on the generic ballot, according to the FiveThirtyEight polling average. The party may reap even more corporate donations if polls continue to show them leading during the campaign’s home stretch.
“If you look at history, when a change in control is likely, a lot of corporate PACs will wait until Oct. 1 and make contributions” to the party expected to seize the majority, said Charlie Black, a veteran Republican lobbyist.
Some House Democrats have seen corporate PAC contributions rise even more than McGovern this year.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who’s set to become chairman of the House Judiciary Committee if Democrats win back the chamber, raised about $162,000 from corporate PACs in the first six months of this year — more than double the amount he raised in the first half of 2016. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the ranking member on the House Transportation Committee, has raised 57 percent more from corporate PACs; Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), who’s set to chair the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, has raised 43 percent more.
Nadler and Neal only became the ranking members of their committees last year, and McGovern only became the top Democrat on the House Rules Committee after Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) died in March, which may account for part of the spikes in their fundraising.
But other Democrats who held the top spots on their committees last cycle — including Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee; Rep. Frank Pallone, the ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee; and DeFazio — have seen their fundraising climb over the past six months, too.
The shift in any single corporate PAC’s giving is often subtle, partly because most corporate PACs strive to give to Democrats and Republicans.
Toyota’s PAC, for instance, has cut checks to 10 Republican committee chairmen and seven Democratic ranking members this cycle, according to campaign finance disclosures. The PAC’s bylaws stipulate that it can’t give more than 60 percent of its total contributions to members of one party or the other.
“Hence, we don’t make significant shifts due to potential election outcomes,” Stephen Ciccone, a Toyota lobbyist, wrote in an email to POLITICO.
The shift toward Democrats is most notable during the most recent six months. While Nadler, DeFazio and Neal all saw the amount they raised from corporate PACs rise by at least 20 percent over the full 2018 election cycle, McGovern has raised only 2 percent more from corporate PACs over the full cycle. Waters and Pallone actually saw the amount they received from corporate PACs fall slightly over the full cycle.
DeFazio, Neal and Waters didn’t respond to requests for comment. Pallone declined to comment.
A spokesman for Nadler’s campaign said his small-dollar contributions had risen even more than his corporate PAC fundraising over the full 2018 cycle.
Campaign finance disclosures show Nadler has raised nearly $8,500 this cycle from donors who gave $200 or less, compared with a little over $4,000 he’d raised from small donors at this point in the 2016 cycle. Still, that’s a fraction of the $295,000 that Nadler’s campaign has raised from corporate PACs.
Adesope Mubarak Adekola 