Corporate PAC's Backed Republicans 10 to 1

The New York Times
November 26, 2004

Corporate PAC's Backed Republicans 10 to 1
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (AP) - The top-giving corporate political action committees did not hedge their bets in the fall elections despite the narrow division between Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

They favored Republican candidates 10 to 1.

Of 268 corporate PAC's that donated $100,000 or more to presidential and Congressional candidates from January 2003 through the middle of last month, 245 gave the majority of their contributions to Republicans, according to an analysis released Wednesday by Political Money Line, a nonpartisan campaign finance tracking service.

Twenty-three corporate PAC's made more than half their donations to Democrats, according to the study, based on the most recent campaign finance reports available.

Corporate PAC's are financed with limited donations from company employees, who can each give up to $5,000 a year. In turn, the PAC's can donate up to $5,000 for a primary and another $5,000 for the general election to each federal candidate they support.

No money from the corporation itself can go to Congressional or presidential candidates.

These were the five most-Republican-leaning corporate PAC's:

Cooper Industries PAC: All $208,000 to Republicans. Cooper Industries, based in Houston, makes hardware and electrical and automotive products.

Flowers Industries PAC: All $131,500 to Republican candidates. Flowers Industries, a bakery company, is based in Thomasville, Ga.

The PAC of Phillips International: All $113,500 to Republicans. Phillips is a publishing company in Potomac, Md.

Harris Corporation Federal PAC: $168,500 to Republicans; $4,000 to Democrats. Harris, based in Melbourne, Fla., is an international communications equipment company.

Illinois Tool Works for Better Government Committee: $139,500 to Republicans; $5,000 to Democrats.

These were the five most-Democratic-leaning PAC's:

Cablevision Systems Corporation PAC: $88,000 to Democrats; $24,500 to Republicans.

The PAC of MWH Americas: $69,334 to Democrats; $48,000 to Republicans. MWH Americas is a construction and engineering company based in Broomfield, Colo.

The PAC of the LaSalle Bank Corporation of Chicago and its Standard Federal Bank subsidiary: $65,250 to Democrats; $47,500 to Republican candidates.

New York Mercantile Exchange PAC: $200,500 to Democrats; $148,000 to Republicans.

Harrah's Entertainment casino company PAC: $75,767 to Democrats; $57,793 to Republicans.

Republicans increased their majorities in both houses of Congress.