Uneven Political Contributions by Publicly Traded Companies

By Kent Cooper

Posted August 14, 2013 at 12:37pm

The recent disclosure of large corporate checks from publicly traded companies to political groups shows there can be a significant difference in the amount a company gives to Republicans and Democrats.

The Republican Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association routinely ask corporations for contributions for political activities to help elect their party candidates for governor and for other political campaigning activities. Political MoneyLine reported yesterday that in the first six months of 2013, the RGA raised $24 million and the DGA raised $13 million.

A review of those publicly traded corporations giving more than $100,000 in 2013 to the RGA or the DGA indicates that some publicly traded corporations gave one party group much more than the other.

Florida Power & Light (a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc.) gave $500,000 to the RGA and zero the DGA.

WellPoint Inc. (WLP) gave $600,000 to the RGA and only $150,000 to the DGA.

Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) gave $250,000 to the RGA and zero the DGA.

Sanofi-Aventis U.S. (subsidiary of Sanofi S.A. (SNY) gave $250,000 to the RGA and $100,000 to the DGA.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) gave $200,000 to the RGA and $75,000 to the DGA.

Exelon Corp. (EXC) gave zero to the RGA and $125,000 to the DGA.

AT&T Inc. (T) gave $250,000 to the RGA and $150,000 to the DGA.

Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) gave zero to the RGA and $100,000 to the DGA.

Covanta Energy Corp. (CVA) gave $50,000 to the RGA and $150,000 to the DGA.

GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) gave $150,000 to the RGA and $50,000 to the DGA.

Marathon Oil (MRO) gave $100,000 to the RGA and zero to the DGA.

Progress Energy Services Company (a subsidiary of Duke Energy) gave $100,000 to the RGA and $200,000 to the DGA.