Corporations are already doling out money for 2016.
As of January, 21 of the Sunlight Foundation’s “Fixed Fortunes” 200 companies have already made donations to both Democratic and Republican party committees.
Though these corporations cannot directly contribute to politicians or parties, they can raise and then send money to a political action committee which can then be used directly with campaigns.
Democratic Party committees raised roughly $873,000 in January from PACs associated with the “Fixed Fortunes” companies, compared to $1.2 million taken in by Republican ones, a review of reports by Sunlight shows.
Among the biggest-spending companies — or those who donated $75,000 to political party committees in January — were Aflac Insurance, Boeing, CSX Transportation, Exelon and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
All five sent $15,000 to both the Republican and Democratic parties’ congressional and senatorial arms, the data show.
Sunlight Foundation picks the “Fixed Fortunes” companies based on how politically active they are. Between 2007 and 2012, the 200 noted corporations spent around $5.8 billion on federal lobbying and campaign contributions. If the January spending totals are any indication of things to come, the 2016 elections will redefine just how expensive campaigns can be.
