In an election year where more congressional incumbents were ousted from power than any time since 1948, political action committees were quick to switch allegiances from one party to the other in the aftermath of the historic Democratic losses.

A total of 352 PACs in 53 U.S. House races and two U.S. Senate races gave money to incumbents prior to Election Day only to begin funding the winning challengers immediately after their preferred candidates went down to defeat, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics.

That’s double the number of PACs that flipped support following the 2008 election.



Those 352 PACs gave a combined $6.9 million to these incumbents prior to the election and contributed a combined $3.07 million to the successful challengers afterward, according to the Center’s analysis of campaign finance reports primarily through the first quarter.

Of these PACs, 39 actually gave more to the winner than they originally gave to the defeated incumbents. Meanwhile, 40 PACs have given an equal amount. And oil and gas industry giant Koch Industries has made the biggest U-turn in contributions since Election Day, according to the Center’s analysis.

The Koch Industries PAC has given $12,000 more to winning challengers since Election Day than it originally gave to vanquished incumbents it had backed in six races across the country.

These six races are:

North Dakota’s At-Large Congressional District, where Koch Industries has contributed $7,500 to Republican Rick Berg since he defeated nine-term Democratic incumbent Earl Pomeroy, who had received $2,500 from the Koch Industries PAC before the election

New York’s 25th Congressional District, where Koch Industries has contributed $1,000 to Republican Ann Marie Buerkle since Election Day — the same amount it contributed to Democratic incumbent Dan Maffei before Election Day

Texas’ 17th Congressional District, where Koch Industries has contributed $6,000 to Republican William Flores since he defeated Democrat Chet Edwards, who had received $5,000 from Koch Industries before the election

Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, where Koch Industries has contributed $2,500 to Republican Francisco Canseco since he defeated Democrat Ciro Rodriguez, who had received $2,000 from Koch Industries ahead of the midterm election

Texas’ 27th Congressional District, where Koch Industries has contributed $7,000 to Republican Blake Farenthold since he defeated Democratic incumbent Solomon Ortiz, who had received $4,500 from Koch Industries before Election Day

Two other energy companies — Chesapeake Energy and ExxonMobil — are close on the heels of Koch Industries among PACs that have contributed more since Election Day to politicians whose opponents they backed before the election.

Chesapeake Energy has donated $10,000 to newly minted Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) since Election Day in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District after first giving $1,000 to incumbent Democrat Harry Teague.

ExxonMobil, likewise, has donated more money to winning Republican challengers in six congressional districts where it backed Democratic incumbents ahead of the election. The energy company’s PAC has also given at least some money to winning Republican challengers in three other districts where it had invested in the Democratic incumbents ahead of the election.

“When evaluating candidates, the committee is strictly nonpartisan and bases decisions on support for sound energy and economic policies,” said Alan Jeffers, ExxonMobil’s media relations manager, in an email to OpenSecrets Blog.

ExxonMobil did not offer comment on why they flipped support immediately following the election.

Koch Industries and Chesapeake Energy did not respond to requests for comment.

Here is a table showing the 11 PACs that have given at least $3,000 more overall to winning candidates since Election Day after originally supporting the incumbents:

Donor Incumbents Pre-Election $ Challengers Post Election $ No. of Races Post Election v. Pre-Election Koch Industries $17,500 $29,500 6 $12,000 ExxonMobil $23,000 $32,000 9 $9,000 Chesapeake Energy $1,000 $10,000 1 $9,000 Alpha Natural Resources $3,000 $10,000 1 $7,000 Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers $5,000 $10,000 1 $5,000 Time Warner Cable $9,500 $14,000 4 $4,500 Coast Federal Credit Union $1,000 $5,000 1 $4,000 US Oncology $1,000 $5,000 1 $4,000 American Resort Development Assn $11,000 $14,500 3 $3,500 CONSOL Energy $7,000 $10,000 1 $3,000 Financial Services Roundtable $4,500 $7,500 2 $3,000

It seems for many PACs making friends with those in power is more important than sticking with a party. And for five PACs, building relationships with newly elected lawmakers was so important they donated more than $100,000 to the winners — candidates whom they had previously not supported with campaign contributions.

These five PACs are Honeywell International, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the National Auto Dealers Association, AT&T Inc. and the American Bankers Association.

Honeywell International’s PAC, for its part, has given more than $210,110 across 37 races to newly minted elected officials after previously backing their opponents.

Notably, AT&T’s allegiances have flipped the most, giving money to winning candidates in 41 races after previously contributing to their now-departed opponents. That’s four more races than Honeywell International, which ranks second among all flip-flopping PACs.

Mike Johnson, National Beer Wholesalers Association’s executive vice president and chief advocacy officer, said the PACs mission is to donate to candidates who support beer distributors’ agendas. This means the PAC typically gives to incumbents because it already knows where the incumbents stand on issues of concern to the association.

In terms of donating to newly elected officials, Johnson said staff members from the PAC meet with those officials and, “use that as a basis for building a relationship and getting to know these folks in a way that will give us an idea of where they stand on the issues that are of concern to us.”

John Hall, spokesman for the American Bankers Association, told OpenSecrets Blog the organization’s state associations in each area give recommendations on PAC donations.

Honeywell International, AT&T Inc. and the National Auto Dealers Association did not respond to requests for comment.

Here is a table of the 10 PACs that have donated the most money, in aggregate, to winning challengers since Election Day after supporting the incumbents ahead of the election:

Donor Incumbent Pre-Election $ Challenger Post Election $ No. of Races Honeywell International $335,000 $210,117 37 National Beer Wholesalers Assn. $237,500 $133,000 28 National Auto Dealers Assn. $175,000 $120,700 24 AT&T $320,000 $113,000 41 American Bankers Assn. $196,000 $109,500 23 National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn. $187,000 $80,500 28 National Assn of Realtors $177,000 $68,500 24 Comcast $184,500 $65,000 30 Boeing $153,000 $61,000 28 New York Life Insurance $99,500 $58,000 12

Flores of Texas has gained support from the most PACs that originally backed his opponent: 45 PACs have donated to him after previously donating to his Democratic opponent, Edwards. Contributions from these groups total $120,100.

Berg of North Dakota and Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) have also both raised more than $100,000 from PACs that backed their opponents before Election Day, according to the Center’s research.

Thirty-nine PACs that backed Democrat Pomeroy in North Dakota ahead of the election have since given Berg a total of $110,900. And 28 PACs that backed Stivers’ Democratic opponent have given him a combined $109,500 — that’s actually $17,500 more than these 28 groups had given incumbent Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio) before the election.

New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, where Republican Frank Guinta defeated Democratic incumbent Carol Shea-Porter, ranks as the only House district where an incumbent was unseated where no PAC that supported Shea-Porter has since invested in Guinta, according to the Center’s research.

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Dig into these flip-flopping PACs for yourself!

Download this Excel spreadsheet with contains five informational tabs, including the full list of PACs whose allegiances have switched, a full list of which races have experienced this trend, and itemized breakdown of the candidates and PACs in each.

Feel free to use this data, but please be sure to credit the Center for Responsive Politics: PAC_Money_Switch.xls

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Center for Responsive Politics senior researcher Douglas Weber contributed to this report.



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: 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: [email protected]

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