Last month, most presidential candidates released their first fund-raising reports in what’s likely to be the most expensive presidential election in history and the first in which neither majority party candidate participates in the nation’s public financing system.

So how do the major candidates stack up in terms of who is bankrolling their campaigns?



A new Center for Responsive Politics analysis shows that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has raised more than 25 percent of his funds this year from the finance, insurance and real estate sector. That’s $4.65 million from the financial sector out of $18 million in overall receipts.

Romney has also raised nearly 10 percent of his money from sources in the general business sector, according to the Center’s research: $1.69 million.

Furthermore, lawyers and lobbyists account for about $1 out of every $20 Romney has raised, coming in at $952,100 in donations through June 30, according to the Center’s research.

Other sectors, meanwhile, account for much smaller fractions of Romney’s overall receipts.

Health sector interests have given Romney about $543,750, about 3 percent of his overall war chest.

The construction sector has given Romney at least $419,500, about 2.3 percent of his overall receipts.

The communications/electronics sector has given Romney about $409,300, or about 2.2 percent of his overall receipts.

And the energy and natural resources sector has given Romney about $312,300, or about 1.5 percent of his overall war chest.

This means, in t erms of fund-raising, that Romney has been more reliant on many of these special interests than President Barack Obama — particularly, finance sector and energy sector interests.

For his part, Obama has raised about $2.2 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sector, according to the Center’s research. That’s just 4.4 percent of the overall $48 million Obama has reported raising through June 30.

Obama’s fund-raising, unlike Romney’s, has also relied extensively on individuals who donate $200 or less — the threshold for itemized disclosure by the Federal Election Commission. About 47 percent of Obama’s second-quarter fund-raising haul came from these small-dollar donors, while just 6 percent of Romney’s did. No information — no name, no address, no employer, no occupation — is publicly released about donors who give $200 or less. Only one aggregate dollar amount of how much money a given candidate has raised from unitemized donations is reported.

To date, only $23 million of the $48 million that Obama has reported raising is from itemized sources, accounting to the Center’s tally.

Thus, financial sector interests represent about 9.4 percent of the money Obama has raised from itemized sources. Either way you do the math, this is still significantly less than Romney.

Similarly, Obama has raised just $178,200 from energy sector interests through June 30. That’s about 0.4 percent of his total war chest, or about 0.8 percent of his itemized donations.

Meanwhile, general business interests, legal interests, the communications sector and the health sector comprise significant slices of Obama’s fund-raising haul.

General business interests have donated $3.3 million to Obama, that’s 14.4 percent of his itemized donations.

Employees of law firms and lobby shops have donated $2.3 million to Obama, about 10 percent of his itemized donations.

The communications/electronics sector has donated about $1.4 million to Obama, about 6 percent of his itemized receipts. This is significantly more than Romney both in terms of raw dollars and in terms of a percentage.

Health sector interests have donated about $885,100 to Obama, about 3.8 percent of his itemized receipts.

Here are two graphs detailing the percentage of each presidential candidate’s war chest coming from select economic sectors. Click on each graph to see a larger version.

Note: Figures for all candidates are based on their itemized receipts due to the large portion of small-dollar donors to Obama, Bachmann and Paul.

While candidates such as former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and Texas Gov. Rick Perry have yet to file campaign finance reports of any sort with the FEC due to their late entry into the presidential race, Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) are both hoping to translate grassroots support and enthusiasm from small-dollar donors into a political operation that can defeat Romney.

Through June 30, Paul has raised $4.5 million, with about $2 million from itemized donors, and Bachmann has raised $3.6 million, with about $1.4 million from itemized donors.

Despite these smaller war chests, Bachmann finished first in the Ames Straw Poll earlier this month, and Paul finished a close second.

Like Romney, the sector to provide Bachmann with the most financial support has been the finance insurance and real estate interests.

The financial sector has contributed at least $129,675 to Bachmann, according to the Center’s research, or about 9.4 percent of her itemized receipts.

Health sector interests, meanwhile, have donated at least $65,200 to Bachmann, according to the Center’s research, or about 4.7 percent of her itemized receipts.

General business interests rank third among Bachmann’s backers, coming in at $49,600 in donations, or about 3.6 percent of her receipts.

Notably, Bachmann has raised $40,875 from the agribusiness sector, which makes this interest area her fourth top sector. That’s 3 percent of her overall itemized donations — making her more reliant on agribusiness money than any other candidate.

Meanwhile, Paul has relied most on general business interests to fuel his third presidential campaign.

The general business sector has contributed $189,350 to Paul’s campaign — or about 9.1 percent of his itemized donations.

The financial sector, health sector and communications/electronics sector each account for about 7 percent of Paul’s itemized donations through June 30, according to the Center’s research.

Notably, Paul has relied on defense sector interests more than Romney, Bachmann or Obama.

Paul has collected at least $17,700 from defense sector interests. That’s only about 0.8 percent of his itemized receipts — but that percentage is still about four times larger as the percent of either Romney or Obama’s war chest that has come from the defense sector.

Here are two graphs detailing the dollars each of these four presidential candidates has collected from the various economic sectors. Click on each graph to see a larger version.



Strikingly, both Paul and Bachmann have relied on employees of law firms and lobbying shops for less than 2 percent of their itemized donations, according to the Center’s research.



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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