Venture capitalist Tom Perkins recently launched himself into the news with a letter to the Wall Street Journal drawing parallels between what he views as liberal hostility to the “one percent” and Nazi hostility to the Jews in the 1930s.
Perkins was quickly castigated by his Silicon Valley peers for voicing fear of a liberal “Kristallnacht,” and he apologized on Monday.
But other investors have made more temperate complaints, criticizing President Obama and liberals for being too hostile toward the rich, and Perkins’ critique is reflected in a larger trend in campaign contributions since the 2008 elections.
Securities & Investment contributions over time:
|
Election Cycle |
Total Contributions |
Donations to Democrats |
Donations to Republicans |
% to Dems |
% to Repubs |
|
2014 |
$40,951,896 |
$13,401,774 |
$22,781,153 |
37% |
63% |
|
2012 |
$279,423,538 |
$58,799,726 |
$129,814,160 |
31% |
69% |
|
2010 |
$107,038,979 |
$48,854,028 |
$50,692,795 |
49% |
51% |
|
2008 |
$174,415,553 |
$100,183,890 |
$73,943,815 |
58% |
42% |
|
2006 |
$81,674,241 |
$42,094,403 |
$37,078,558 |
53% |
47% |
|
2004 |
$102,454,517 |
$48,389,687 |
$53,864,397 |
47% |
53% |
|
2002 |
$67,066,155 |
$32,370,346 |
$34,672,650 |
48% |
52% |
|
2000 |
$100,771,981 |
$45,878,523 |
$54,527,035 |
46% |
54% |
|
1998 |
$40,266,437 |
$18,922,110 |
$20,868,979 |
48% |
52% |
|
1996 |
$49,609,807 |
$20,858,769 |
$28,459,358 |
42% |
58% |
|
1994 |
$25,392,299 |
$12,892,665 |
$12,386,709 |
51% |
49% |
|
1992 |
$33,014,883 |
$17,240,072 |
$15,633,209 |
52% |
48% |
|
1990 |
$12,593,188 |
$7,122,576 |
$5,464,327 |
57% |
43% |
Up through the 2010 cycle, contributions from the securities and investment industry (which we often refer to as “Wall Street”) didn’t lean heavily toward either Democrats or Republicans. Over time, each party received at least 42 percent of the industry’s contributions.
In the 2010 cycle, though, despite Democratic control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, the industry shifted slightly in the direction of the GOP. In the 2012 cycle, nearly 70 percent of contributions went to Republicans. Democrats have done a bit better in the current cycle (so far we show figures only through Sept. 30, 2013), but securities and investment is still giving the lion’s share of its funds to Republicans — more so than in any cycle before 2012.
The trend is even more striking in a comparison of the last two presidential elections. In 2008, Obama was the top recipient of donations from Wall Street, with close to double the total of his Republican rival John McCain. In fact, securities and investment was Obama’s fourth largest donor by industry. But in 2012, GOP nominee Mitt Romney received more than three times as much money from this industry as Obama. Securities and investment was the No. 2 industry for Romney in the last election, but had fallen to No. 10 for Obama.
Top donors followed suit: Obama’s top 20 in 2008 included several from Wall Street — but none from the industry appear on his 2012 list .
Perkins’ donations have followed the same pattern. Prior to the 2010 election cycle, he donated to both parties. Up until the 2008 cycle he had given somewhat more to Democrats than Republicans, and he even gave $2,300 to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. Since then he has both increased the amount of money he donates to politics and shifted almost all of it to Republicans. From 2009 on he gave more than $87,000 to Republicans, including $2,500 to Romney. Perkins, like much of Wall Street, has shown his discontent with his wallet as well as his mouth.
Image: Tom Perkins in 2007 (AP Photo/Ben Margot)
The post Wall Street’s Rightward Bolt appeared first on OpenSecrets Blog.
