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Contact: Dave Levinthal, 202-354-0111

It’s still a man’s world when it comes to large campaign contributions, an updated Center for Responsive Politics analysis of gender demographics indicates.

Although women enjoy a slight edge over men in terms of U.S. population figures, women accounted for 29.6 percent of those people making federal-level political donations of more than $200 during the most recent election cycle, the Center finds.

That figure is even smaller — 26.5 percent — when accounting for the overall dollar amount of federal-level political contributions attributable to women during the 2010 cycle.

“Women today are responsible for a greater share of large political contributions than they were even a few years ago, but the gender gap in who funds politics remains profound and persistent,” said Sheila Krumholz, the Center’s executive director.

Of all adult women, only 0.14 percent made a political contribution of more than $200 during the 2010 election cycle, the Center finds. In contrast, 0.34 percent of adult men did.

The Center has developed both automated and manual processes by which its researchers may determine the gender of federal campaign donors.

Also updated is the Center’s overall donor demographic listings, which, for example, indicates that a tiny percentage of Americans — just 0.26 percent — account for 64.3 percent of all individual contributions to federal candidates, parties and political action committees.

Donations of $200 or less are not factored into the Center’s donor count and gender calculations because federal law does not require candidates and political committees to disclose identifying information, such as a person’s name, address or occupation.



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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