It's no secret that public sector unions contribute heavily toward political campaigns these days, but the extent of their giving in recent cycles and over the last 20 years still might surprise some voters.
Consider the list of 'heavy hitters' compiled by the Center For Responsive Politics on its opensecrets website. The list of the 140 biggest givers to political campaigns over the last 20 years includes at #3 the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees ($43,028,411), the National Education Association at #8 ($31,127,590), the Service Employees International Union, half of whose 2.2 million members are public employees, at #11 ($28,895,482), the American Federation of Teachers at ($28,227,141), and the Communications Workers of America, with about 150,000 government workers out of 700,000 members, at #14 ($27,999,606).
Joining these heavily public sector unions on the list are companies like AT&T (#1 at $45,728,859) and Goldman Sachs (#3 at $33,035,202) as well as industry groups like the National Association of Realtors (#4 at $37,629,299) advocacy groups like ActBlue (#2 at $44,681,701), and private unions like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (#6 at $32,686,566) and the Laborers Union (#9 at $29,834,300).
Still, what distinguishes the union giving is the extent to which it is focused on Democratic candidates. Whereas 44 percent of AT&T contributions have gone to Democrats, and 48 percent of Realtor contributions, 98 percent of AFSCME giving and 95 percent of SEIU donations have gone to Dem coffers. The big imbalance in giving by unions towards Dems is one reason why the heavy hitters have favored Dems over Republicans by $1.3 billion to $844 million over the last 20 years.
Unions aren't just big givers to candidates. They've also spent heavily on their own issue ads, according to opensecrets. SEIU leads the list of biggest independent spenders, with $69,281,269 over 20 years, followed by the National Rifle Association ($57,626,667), AFSCME ($52,708,174) and the AFL-CIO ($39,389,540).
Consider the list of 'heavy hitters' compiled by the Center For Responsive Politics on its opensecrets website. The list of the 140 biggest givers to political campaigns over the last 20 years includes at #3 the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees ($43,028,411), the National Education Association at #8 ($31,127,590), the Service Employees International Union, half of whose 2.2 million members are public employees, at #11 ($28,895,482), the American Federation of Teachers at ($28,227,141), and the Communications Workers of America, with about 150,000 government workers out of 700,000 members, at #14 ($27,999,606).
Joining these heavily public sector unions on the list are companies like AT&T (#1 at $45,728,859) and Goldman Sachs (#3 at $33,035,202) as well as industry groups like the National Association of Realtors (#4 at $37,629,299) advocacy groups like ActBlue (#2 at $44,681,701), and private unions like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (#6 at $32,686,566) and the Laborers Union (#9 at $29,834,300).
Still, what distinguishes the union giving is the extent to which it is focused on Democratic candidates. Whereas 44 percent of AT&T contributions have gone to Democrats, and 48 percent of Realtor contributions, 98 percent of AFSCME giving and 95 percent of SEIU donations have gone to Dem coffers. The big imbalance in giving by unions towards Dems is one reason why the heavy hitters have favored Dems over Republicans by $1.3 billion to $844 million over the last 20 years.
Unions aren't just big givers to candidates. They've also spent heavily on their own issue ads, according to opensecrets. SEIU leads the list of biggest independent spenders, with $69,281,269 over 20 years, followed by the National Rifle Association ($57,626,667), AFSCME ($52,708,174) and the AFL-CIO ($39,389,540).
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