Campaign Contributions

Already the most reliably Democratic state in national politics, Massachusetts puts its money where its mouth is. The Commonwealth is a cash cow for the national Democratic Party, but it’s of only middling financial significance to the Republicans. As of June 3, Democratic and Republican national committees and congressional candidates raised $15 million in the Bay State for this year’s elections, and more than two-thirds of that amount went to Democrats. Overall, Massachusetts ranked 11th in the nation totaling donations to both parties–not a bad haul from the 13th most populous state. But only six states gave more to Democrats than the Bay State did, while 23 states ponied up more to the GOP. No other state has such a large discrepancy between the two rankings, and no other state gives a bigger share of its campaign money to the Democrats. (Indeed, only six other states, shown in italics, contributed more to the Democratic party and its candidates than to the Republicans.)

These rankings are in line with the most recent elections years for which complete date are available. In 1998, the last midterm election, Massachusetts gave about $22.5 million to federal parties and candidates, and the 70-30 ratio in favor of Democrats was almost exactly the same as it is so far this election cycle. In the presidential year of 2000, the Bay State’s contributions were only slightly more bipartisan, with the GOP picking up 35 percent of the $38 million in total contributions. Given this pattern, it’s not hard to see which party is more likely to pick Boston as its convention site in 2004.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FEDERAL CANDIDATES AND NATIONAL PARTIES
2002 election cycle, through June 3

DONATIONS TO DEMOCRATS
Rank	State	Percent of Total	Amount (Millions)
1.	California	59%	$42.8
2.	New York	60%	$30.5
3.	Texas	35%	$14.9
4.	Illinois	49%	$13.8
5.	Virginia	32%	$12.2
6.	New Jersey	52%	$11.4
7.	Massachusetts	70%	$10.6
8.	Maryland	63%	$8.9
9.	Florida	31%	$8.3
10.	Georgia	39%	$7.8
11.	Pennsylvania	35%	$6.4
12.	North Carolina	41%	$5.7
13.	Michigan	37%	$5.2
14.	Missouri	40%	$4.9
15.	Connecticut	44%	$4.0
16.	Washington	46%	$3.9
17.	Colorado	36%	$3.9
18.	Kentucky	39%	$3.6
19.	Ohio	21%	$3.5
20.	Minnesota	33%	$3.4
21.	Nevada	39%	$3.1
22.	Arkansas	43%	$2.4
23.	South Carolina	35%	$2.3
24.	Alabama	26%	$2.3
25.	Tennessee	24%	$2.2
26.	Indiana	34%	$2.1
27.	Louisiana	31%	$2.0
28.	Oregon	43%	$1.8
29.	Arizona	31%	$1.7
30.	Oklahoma	30%	$1.5
31.	Iowa	30%	$1.4
32.	Kansas	31%	$1.3
33.	Maine	54%	$1.2
34.	New Hampshire	43%	$1.1
35.	Rhode Island	60%	$1.1
36.	Wisconsin	27%	$1.0
37.	Mississippi	34%	$0.9
38.	Delaware	30%	$0.8
39.	New Mexico	26%	$0.7
40.	Utah	32%	$0.7
41.	West Virginia	37%	$0.6
42.	South Dakota	29%	$0.6
43.	Montana	45%	$0.5
44.	Hawaii	31%	$0.3
45.	Nebraska	16%	$0.2
46.	North Dakota	21%	$0.2
47.	Vermont	47%	$0.2
48.	Wyoming	13%	$0.1
49.	Idaho	12%	$0.1
50.	Alaska	7%	$0.1

DONATIONS TO REPUBLICANS
Rank	State	Percent of Total	Amount (Millions)
1.	California	41%	$29.8
2.	Texas	65%	$27.6
3.	Virginia	68%	$26.0
4.	New York	40%	$20.3
5.	Florida	69%	$18.4
6.	Illinois	50%	$14.1
7.	Ohio	79%	$13.1
8.	Georgia	61%	$12.1
9.	Pennsylvania	64%	$11.8
10.	New Jersey	48%	$10.5
11.	Michigan	62%	$8.7
12.	North Carolina	59%	$8.1
13.	Missouri	59%	$7.2
14.	Tennessee	76%	$7.0
15.	Colorado	64%	$6.9
16.	Minnesota	67%	$6.8
17.	Alabama	74%	$6.4
18.	Kentucky	61%	$5.7
19.	Maryland	37%	$5.2
20.	Connecticut	55%	$5.0
21.	Nevada	61%	$4.9
22.	Washington	54%	$4.6
23.	Louisiana	69%	$4.5
24.	Massachusetts	29%	$4.4
25.	South Carolina	65%	$4.3
26.	Indiana	66%	$4.1
27.	Arizona	69%	$3.9
28.	Oklahoma	70%	$3.5
29.	Arkansas	57%	$3.2
30.	Iowa	68%	$3.2
31.	Kansas	68%	$2.9
32.	Wisconsin	73%	$2.8
33.	Oregon	57%	$2.4
34.	New Mexico	74%	$2.1
35.	Delaware	70%	$1.9
36.	Mississippi	66%	$1.8
37.	Utah	68%	$1.5
38.	New Hampshire	57%	$1.4
39.	South Dakota	71%	$1.4
40.	Nebraska	84%	$1.1
41.	West Virginia	62%	$1.0
42.	Maine	46%	$1.0
43.	Alaska	93%	$0.9
44.	Wyoming	87%	$0.9
45.	Idaho	87%	$0.8
46.	Rhode Island	40%	$0.7
47.	North Dakota	79%	$0.6
48.	Hawaii	69%	$0.6
49.	Montana	54%	$0.5
50.	Vermont	56%	$0.2

Source: www.opensecrets.org, based on data released by the Federal Election Commission on June 3, 2002