Interest Groups
For each interest group, we offer:
- Totals: A summary of political giving dating back to 1990 election cycle, including breakdowns by type of contribution and political party
- Top contributors: A list of organizations (usually U.S. companies) that have given the most from that industry through their employees and political action committees
- Top recipients: A list of candidates that have received the most from a particular industry
Plus more!
Sector Totals, 2015-2016
| Rank | Sector | Amount | Total to Parties & Candidates | Dems | Repubs |  To DEMS To REPUBS To OUTSIDE SPENDING GRPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Finance/Insur/RealEst | $677,271,964 | $357,696,495 | 38.7% | 61.1% | |
| 2 | Other | $407,948,421 | $339,678,046 | 54.7% | 45.0% | |
| 3 | Ideology/Single-Issue | $283,351,291 | $204,315,260 | 56.8% | 42.2% | |
| 4 | Misc Business | $249,924,417 | $187,067,451 | 42.4% | 57.3% | |
| 5 | Health | $161,111,023 | $129,965,851 | 47.3% | 52.4% | |
| 6 | Lawyers & Lobbyists | $157,602,203 | $147,471,574 | 66.3% | 33.4% | |
| 7 | Communic/Electronics | $151,937,770 | $102,040,788 | 65.7% | 34.0% | |
| 8 | Energy/Nat Resource | $117,564,615 | $74,564,682 | 19.5% | 80.3% | |
| 9 | Labor | $112,249,767 | $47,261,684 | 84.5% | 15.1% | |
| 10 | Agribusiness | $74,267,583 | $54,506,604 | 26.0% | 73.6% | |
| 11 | Construction | $71,264,714 | $53,134,204 | 30.7% | 69.0% | |
| 12 | Transportation | $66,085,601 | $50,749,394 | 27.9% | 71.8% | |
| 13 | Defense | $22,864,560 | $22,633,024 | 36.9% | 62.9% | |
METHODOLOGY: The numbers on this page are based on contributions of $200 or more from PACs and individuals to federal candidates and from PACs, soft money (including directly from corporate and union treasuries) and individual donors to political parties and outside spending groups, as reported to the Federal Election Commission. Donations to Democrats, Donations to Republicans, and the associated percentages are based solely on contributions to candidates and parties. Independent expenditures and electioneering communications are not reflected in the breakdown by party.
All donations took place during the 2015-2016 election cycle and were released by the Federal Election Commission on Monday, August 22, 2016.
Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: info@crp.org
