Top Industries To Presidential Candidates Include Lawyers, Doctors, Entertainment Companies
WASHINGTON - July 18 - President Bush raised more money from lawyers and law firms than from any other industry during the second quarter of this year, but also raised generous amounts from securities/investment firms, real estate firms and doctors, among others, according to preliminary figures calculated by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics from recently filed campaign finance reports.
The Center has posted the top industries giving to each of the major presidential candidates on its Web-based presidential candidate profiles.
Bush collected $2.2 million from legal professionals between mid-May, when he began fundraising for his re-election campaign, and June 30. The only group to give him more money during that time consisted of individuals who listed themselves as retired.
Lawyers and law firms consistently rank above all other industries as the top overall contributors in federal elections. Like Bush, six of the top Democratic presidential contenders -- Howard Dean, John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, Bob Graham, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman -- also raised more money from the legal profession than from any other.
Bush's second-ranking industry ($1.7 million) was securities and investment, an industry that includes several of his top donors so far in the election cycle, including No. 1 Merrill Lynch. Other industries on Bush's Top 20 list include real estate agents ($1.5 million), doctors and other health professionals ($657,000), lobbyists ($396,000), oil and gas interests ($361,000), computers/Internet ($310,000), accountants ($274,000) and the entertainment industry ($263,000).
Edwards, the former trial lawyer, raised $6.2 million from lawyers and law firms through June 30. That is the largest sum from any industry to a presidential candidate so far. It is more than 22 times what he collected from his No. 2 industry, securities and investment ($281,000). Edwards took in $204,000 from health professionals, $148,500 from education interests and $128,000 from the entertainment industry (television, movies and music).
Kerry has raised more money from the entertainment industry ($313,000) than any other candidate. The industry ranks sixth among his top industry donors. Like Edwards, Kerry raised most of his money from legal interests ($2.1 million) and the securities and investment industry ($761,000).
Dean has raised more than $270,000 from the entertainment industry. He has collected more from education interests ($256,000) than any other candidate. Five of Dean's top organizational contributors are universities whose employees have financially supported his campaign. Also among the top industries to Dean are civil servants/public officials ($83,000) and non-profit institutions, whose employees have given his campaign $65,000.
Gephardt took in $1.3 million from lawyers and law firms through June 30. He raised $293,000 from the real estate industry, his second-largest contributor. Securities and investment firms, the entertainment industry and health professionals are also among his top contributors. Beer, wine and liquor companies, led by St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch, had given him $69,000 through June 30.
Lieberman has raised most of his money from lawyers and law firms ($873,000), real estate firms ($539,500) and securities and investment firms ($441,000).
Top industries for the other presidential candidates are also available.
Quality of Disclosure
Edwards finished the second quarter with the best disclosure of his individual contributors. Federal election laws require candidates to itemize all individual contributions of more than $200, and to list each donor's name, address, occupation and employer in their reports to the Federal Election Commission. That occupation/employer information makes it possible to categorize a candidate's donors by industry and interest group. The law requires campaigns to use their best efforts to collect the information and to report what they receive.
The Center defines “full disclosure” as when a candidate's report lists a clear occupation and employer for a particular donor. “Incomplete disclosure” means that the candidate listed something so vague -- such as “businessman,” “entrepreneur,” “self-employed” or “executive” -- that no economic interest could be determined. “No disclosure” means the occupation and employer information was blank.
Edwards has fully disclosed the donors of 98.1 percent ($11.5 million) of his itemized contributions so far this year, putting him ahead of every other presidential candidate. He has raised a total of $11.7 million in individual contributions of more than $200. The Edwards campaign was stung by reports shortly after the first quarter filings that the law firm of Turner & Associates in Little Rock, Ark., had promised to reimburse some clerks for their contributions to the campaign. Edwards announced he would return all contributions he had raised from the firm's employees at that time.
Bush finished the second quarter with 84.2 percent full disclosure. The $33.6 million in itemized individual contributions he collected through June 30 -- which represented 98 percent of his total receipts -- was nearly three times what any of his Democratic rivals raised at that level. The Bush campaign also took the unusual step of posting information about donors who contributed less than $200 on its Web site.
Seven candidates finished the second quarter with full disclosure above 90 percent. They include Dean, Edwards, Gephardt, Dennis Kucinich, Lyndon Larouche, Lieberman and Al Sharpton. No candidate posted a full disclosure rate of less than 82 percent.
By comparison, Bush finished the 2000 election cycle with 87.6 percent full disclosure. Al Gore fully disclosed the donors of 81.8 percent of his contributions in 1999-2000. President Clinton had 92 percent full disclosure in 1996, and Bob Dole fully disclosed the contributors of 74 percent of his itemized individual contributions
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