Update, Oct. 21: Fundraising numbers for the month of September show Obama continuing to dominate when it comes to contributions from the military. The new data, which came in after the story below was published Oct. 15, show he raised $142,197, just a shade less than he collected in August, his strongest month with this set of donors. Romney brought in $111,015 for his best month ever with military donors, but that was still 22 percent less than Obama received.

The new numbers bring Obama’s total from military donors to $678,611, and Romney’s to $398,450.

Foreign policy, military funding and plans for U.S. troops abroad are providing plenty of chewy campaign fodder for President Barack Obama and his GOP rival, Mitt Romney. But fundraising reports shed light on what the armed forces think about the the candidates.

Former Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul received significant support from the military for his strong stance on bringing troops home, and that briefly continued even after Romney pulled ahead as the clear GOP candidate.

Now, though, the military’s support has shifted toward Obama. Romney has consistently received little financial backing from military donors.

Despite the fact that Paul once raised almost twice as much as Obama did from the military, the president has received $536,414 from military donors, compared to Paul’s $399,274 and Romney’s $287,435, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics. These numbers are based on donations greater than $200, as reported to the Federal Election Commission.

Below is a table of contributions from military and civilian employees of the military for the 2012 election cycle through Aug. 31:

Donor Obama Romney Paul Defense Acquisition University $0 $1,000 $0 National Defense University $300 $0 $0 National Guard $7,507 $4,490 $16,333 NATO $250 $0 $0 US Air Force $69,532 $54,170 $90,611 US Army $165,646 $87,218 $115,458 US Coast Guard $12,122 $4,700 $13,819 US Dept of Defense $176,121 $71,043 $39,500 US Marine Corps $16,168 $16,120 $30,855 US Military $2,112 $5,491 $2,755 US Navy $86,656 $43,203 $89,943 Total $536,414 $287,435 $399,274

Contributing $176,121, the Department of Defense is Obama’s biggest supporter, with the Army not far behind with $165,646. The Navy sits in third at $86,656. In comparison, Romney’s top military contributor is the Army with $87,218, followed by the Department of Defense with $71,043 in contributions.

However, although Obama’s fundraising totals are higher than his opponent’s, eight of the 11 military branches the Center for Responsive Politics analyzed have given more to Republican presidential candidates — most notably the Navy, the Air Force and the Marine Corps.

The Obama advantage comes even though he said $500 billion in military spending would be cut as part of the sequestration process to help balance the budget, while Romney has alluded to a multi-trillion-dollar increase over the next decade.

Despite the president’s $100,000-plus lead over Romney and Paul in funding from the armed forces, the numbers didn’t turn in his favor until March when Obama began receiving donations doubling Paul’s.

On a month-by-month basis, the latest fundraising numbers are from August, which show Obama with a $140,761 to $90,273 lead over Romney. Both candidates received most of their August funding from the Army, with Obama pulling in about $21,000 more.

Below is a table of contributions from military and civilian employees of the military for the month of August:

Donor Obama Romney Paul Defense Acquisition University $0 $250 $0 National Guard $2,750 $2,940 $0 NATO $250 $0 $0 US Air Force $17,285 $17,800 $0 US Army $47,907 $26,727 $0 US Coast Guard $4,970 $2,750 $0 US Dept of Defense $36,822 $21,667 $250 US Marine Corps $4,500 $3,350 $201 US Military $750 $491 $0 US Navy $25,527 $14,298 $0 Total $140,761 $90,273 $451

Although Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) discussed national security and military funding during their debate last week, voters still are waiting for a more in-depth treatment of the issues from the presidential candidates. That may occur at tomorrow’s second presidential debate at Hofstra University in New York.

Correction: This story was changed to accurately reflect that eight of the 11 military branches analyzed have given more to Republican presidential candidates, not Romney alone. Additionally, the sentence detailing which branches give the most money to Romney has been updated with correct numbers.



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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