The announcement earlier this year of plans to merge Comcast and Time Warner Cable raised red flags for many telecom industry watchers, as the result would be a mega-company with corresponding power over cable TV consumers and immense influence in Washington. But this week brought market-moving news of another potential industry merger — this time a $50 billion deal between DirecTV and AT&T that would create one of the few companies that might be able to match Comcast’s Washington influence.

The question is whether the companies have enough friends in Washington to clear the regulatory hurdles that both deals face.

AT&T is responsible for more campaign cash than any organization in the entire Communications/Electronics sector . So far in this cycle, the telecom giant has handed out more than $1.9 million in campaign contributions (counting money from its corporate PAC and donations of more than $200 from individuals employed by the company), favoring Republicans. In fact, counting donations by all of AT&T’s affiliate companies, the corporation ranks 27th among the 14,120 organizations OpenSecrets.org is tracking this cycle.

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Comcast is not far behind, with its PAC and employees accounting for more than $1.8 million in contributions, roughly evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. When Comcast’s extensive network of affiliate companies are counted — which includes NBC and Universal Studios — the company actually squeaks by AT&T in the rankings, coming in at 22nd.

When it comes to lobbying, Comcast had the edge in 2013, hiring 130 lobbyists and spending more than $18.8 million. Only six organizations spent more that year. AT&T paid 93 lobbyists and paid out $15.9 million, putting it four spots behind Comcast in spending on federal lobbying.

So far in 2014, however, AT&T has spent $3.6 million, compared to Comcast’s $3.2 million.

AT&T is more of a household name on Capitol Hill, at least as measured by the number of congressional households owning stock in the company. A total of 49 lawmakers reported investing in AT&T (34 Republicans and 15 Democrats), and only 29 owned stock in Comcast (14 Democrats and 15 Republicans), according to financial disclosure statements covering 2012, the most recent available.

Of course, neither of the two companies these two influence giants propose to merge with are exactly unknown in Washington, either.

Time Warner Cable is significantly behind both AT&T and Comcast in terms of campaign spending and lobbying, but the company has accounted for about $$701,000 in contributions so far this cycle (with individuals employed by the company giving mostly to Democrats and the corporate PAC favoring Republicans). Additionally, it spent $8.2 million on lobbying in 2013, ranking it 45th on the list of biggest spenders.

DirecTV is by far the smallest of the pack, but is still a significant player on K Street; in the highly regulated world of telecom, even the smaller players need big representation. So far this cycle, the company’s PAC and its employees have accounted for $418,000 in donations. While the employees gave more to Republicans, the company’s PAC leans slightly Democratic, largely thanks to the $80,000 it gave to the Democratic Attorneys General Association.

Coincidentally or not, AT&T made donations of the exact same size to that group, and Time Warner Cable made two donations worth $20,000. State attorneys general have the power to investigate big mergers, and frequently do; in fact, a group of state attorneys general have already announced plans to investigate the Comcast deal. All of the contributions to the attorney generals’ group came last year, well before any news of the merger was public, and may or may not be connected to other regulatory issues the companies face. Comcast made no contributions to the group.

Democratic AGs may be more pro-regulation and more protective of consumers’ interests — which may explain why Time Warner also donated $25,000 to the Republican Attorney Generals Association, but there is no record that any of the other companies did so.



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