Even as many Democrats have stood in solidarity with workers whose collective bargaining rights have come under fire in Wisconsin and elsewhere across the country, at the federal level, Democratic candidates and groups have increasingly relied on the business community for support.

A decade ago, during the 2000 election cycle, labor unions accounted for about 40 percent of all money Democrats collected from political action committees, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics.

That figure has steadily declined since.

By the 2010 election cycle, union contributions accounted for just 24 percent of all PAC money Democrats received, the Center’s research shows.

Put another way, for every dollar that Democrats got from union PACs during the 2000 election cycle, they received $1.25 from business PACs. But by the 2010 election cycle, for every dollar that Democrats got from union PACs, they received $2.55 from business PACs, according to the Center’s analysis.

This generosity has helped Democrats close the gap with Republicans in terms of money from the business community.

A decade ago, corporate PACs favored Republicans over Democrats by about a two-to-one ratio.

By the 2008 election cycle, however, when Democrats were poised to control both chambers of Congress and the White House, contributions from business PACs were split about evenly between Republican and Democratic candidates and groups. During the 2010 election cycle, that parity continued — almost down to the last dollar.

Corporate PACs donated $164.3 million to Republican candidates and committees during the 2010 election cycle, according to the Center’s research. During the same period, corporate PACs also contributed $164.3 million to Democratic candidates and committees.

During the 2000 election cycle, on the other hand, Democrats collected $67.9 million from business PACs, according to the Center’s research. That’s a 142 percent increase between the 2000 and 2010 election cycles in the amount of money business PACs have contributed to Democrats.

For their part, Republicans collected $123.4 million from business PACs during the 2000 election cycle, according to the Center’s research. GOP groups and candidates experienced an increased flow of only 33 percent of money from these sources during that period.

All the while, labor union PAC contributions hovered between $59 million and $73 million, typically with 90 percent or more of those dollars supporting Democrats each election cycle, according to the Center’s research.

While corporate PACs doled out 73 percent more money during the 2010 election cycle than they did during the 2000 election cycle, union PACs donated just 17 percent more.

Ideological PACs — operated by issue-driven organizations such as the National Rifle Association, the Human Rights Campaign, Planned Parenthood, the Susan B. Anthony List and the Sierra Club — also increased their profiles during the past decade.

These groups experienced a 90 percent increase in their giving between the 2000 and 2010 election cycles — going from $35.6 million in donations to $67.6 million.

Neither political party, however, reaped much financial advantage. Contributions from liberal PACs roughly matched contributions from conservative ones during each election cycle.

Amid this, some politicians, on both sides of the political aisle, have abstained from PAC money completely. For instance, during his 2008 bid for the presidency, Democrat Barack Obama notably declined all PAC contributions.

As Kevin Drum recently wrote in Mother Jones, schisms between organized labor and the Democratic Party have been building for decades.

“Liberal politicians did make it their business to advocate for the working and middle classes, and they worked that advocacy through the Democratic Party,” Drum wrote. “But they largely stopped doing this in the 1970s, leaving the interests of corporations and the wealthy nearly unopposed.”

Drum continued: “As unions increasingly withered beginning in the 1970s, the Democratic Party turned to the only other source of money and influence available in large-enough quantities to replace big labor: the business community. The rise of neoliberalism in the 1980s, given concrete form by the Democratic Leadership Council, was fundamentally an effort to make the party more friendly to business. After all, what choice did Democrats have? Without substantial support from labor or business, no modern party can thrive.”

During the 111th Congress, labor unions didn’t see much movement on their top legislative priority — the Employee Free Choice Act.

Supporters of the measure say it will make it easier for employees to for a union. Opponents, who have dubbed the bill “card check,” say it would tilt the scales unfairly toward unions at the expense of employers.

The measure was vigorously opposed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other businesses and trade groups, including Wal-Mart, Home Depot, the Business Roundtable and the National Federation of Independent Business. Both supporters and opponents of the legislation spent big on political activities ahead of — and during — the battle, as OpenSecrets Blog previously reported.

The Employee Free Choice Act has not yet been re-introduced during the current Congress.



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]

·

·

·

·

·

·

·

Support Accountability Journalism At OpenSecrets.org we offer in-depth, money-in-politics stories in the public interest. Whether you’re reading about 2020 presidential fundraising, conflicts of interest or “dark money” influence, we produce this content with a small, but dedicated team. Every donation we receive from users like you goes directly into promoting high-quality data analysis and investigative journalism that you can trust. Please support our work and keep this resource free. Thank you. Support OpenSecrets ➜

Read more OpenSecrets News & Analysis: