> John Thornton wrote:
>
>>
>>> I used to think that, but watching Goldman Sachs...
>
> I was being a bit ironic, of course. But it wasn't that long ago that
> Robert Rubin was co-chair of GS. And the most liberal member of the
> Senate, or close to it, Jon Corzine, is also a GS alum. GS used to give
> lots of money to the Dems; now it's solidly Repub.
>
> Doug
http://www.opensecrets.org/pressreleases/PresFR1Q2.asp FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 24, 2003 CONTACT: STEVEN WEISS or SHEILA KRUMHOLZ (202/857-0044 or info at crp.org)
TOP CONTRIBUTORS TO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES LED BY GOLDMAN SACHS
Career Fundraising Profiles of Democratic Presidential Contenders Available on OpenSecrets.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - · The Center's new Presidential Profiles are now online! · See the Center's list of top 25 contributors to the Democratic presidential candidates ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -
Topping a list otherwise dominated by law firms, investment banking giant Goldman Sachs accounted for the most money contributed to the Democratic candidates for president in the first quarter of this year. Employees of the New York-based firm contributed at least $78,750 to Democratic presidential hopefuls, according to a Center for Responsive Politics study of contributions reported this month to the Federal Election Commission.
Overall, law firms constitute 18 of the top 25 organizations ranked by total individual and PAC contributions to the Democratic contenders for the White House. Dallas-based law firm Baron & Budd, whose employees contributed $64,250 to the Democratic presidential candidates, ranks second on the list. Rounding out the top five are Girardi & Keese, the Los Angeles law firm whose employees gave $62,000; New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom ($56,900); and investment-banking giant Lehman Brothers ($54,150).
The Center studied contributions listed in the campaign finance reports of nine Democratic presidential aspirants: Howard Dean, John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, Bob Graham, John Kerry, Dennis Kucinich, Lyndon Larouche, Joe Lieberman and Carol Moseley Braun. Al Sharpton has not yet filed a report. President Bush's campaign committee reported no fundraising activity thus far in the 2004 election cycle.
Also being released today are the Center's new Web-based presidential profiles. The profiles examine presidential fundraising by each of the declared candidates for president, including top contributors, top industries, sector totals and geographic breakdowns of contributions. For current and former members of Congress seeking the presidency next year, there is an "all cycles" option that combines congressional fundraising since 1989 with their presidential fundraising so far.
The profiles also display breakdowns of fundraising by the candidates' leadership PACs through 2002, including both limited "hard" money and unlimited "soft" money contributions. Leadership PACs could raise soft money until November of last year.
Goldman Sachs wouldn't have topped the list of presidential contributors were it not for John Edwards. The firm's employees gave him most of their money -- $60,750, or 77 percent of their total. The Edwards campaign reported receiving $24,750 in Goldman Sachs contributions on March 31, the final day of the reporting period. Edwards collected $21,500 from the firm on March 5.
But Goldman Sachs wasn't No. 1 on Edwards' list of top contributors to his presidential campaign. That spot went to Baron & Budd, which ranked second among organizational contributors to all candidates. The law firm's employees gave at least $62,250 to Edwards in the first three months of this year -- $36,000 of which was received on Jan. 24 alone.
For Edwards' career as a federal candidate, including his 1998 run for the U.S. Senate and his fundraising since then in his Senate and presidential campaign accounts, Girardi & Keese is his No. 1 contributor, at $145,000. (Edwards spent $6.2 million of his own money on his Senate race.) The law firm gave an additional $235,000 in hard and soft money to Edwards' leadership PAC through the end of 2002.
The top contributor to Kerry's presidential campaign was Skadden, Arps ($53,400). Kerry collected $13,000 from nine contributors associated with the firm on March 31. The law firm slides to fifth place when contributions to Kerry's senatorial campaigns since 1989 are brought into the mix. In that case, the Boston law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo is tops with more than $181,000 in contributions. Loral Space & Communications, the satellite company headed by Democratic contributor Bernard Schwartz, was the largest donor to Kerry's leadership PAC through 2002, with $30,000 in soft money donations.
Gephardt collected the most money from St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, both in his presidential account ($39,000 in individual contributions) and in his congressional and presidential accounts combined ($486,150 from individuals and the company PAC since 1989). Employees of the beer brewer and theme-park operator gave $12,000 to Gephardt's presidential campaign on March 6. Weitz & Luxenberg, the New York-based law firm, was the top contributor ($108,000 in hard and soft money) to his leadership PAC.
Employees of Lehman Brothers ($31,000) were the top contributors to Lieberman's presidential account from January through March. For his career as a federal candidate, Citigroup is the top contributor, with more than $92,000 in donations since '89. Chase Enterprises, the Hartford, Conn.- based real estate and investment firm, topped the list of contributors to Lieberman's leadership PAC with $40,000 in hard money.
The biggest contributor to Dean's presidential account was AOL Time Warner ($13,750). The former governor of Vermont has never before run for federal office. The lead contributor to his leadership PAC was Central Vermont Public Service Corp., which gave $11,000 in individual and PAC contributions through the end of last year.
Top contributors and other campaign finance figures for these candidates and the rest of the Democratic field (Bob Graham, Dennis Kucinich, Lyndon Larouche and Carol Moseley Braun) are also available.
-- Michael Pugliese