Verizon wrote checks to 28 new members, including Sen.-elect Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). POLITICO Pro Telecoms bet on congressional rookies

AT&T, Comcast and Verizon have donated heavily to incoming members of Congress, cultivating early relationships with the next generation of lawmakers and surpassing the efforts of Internet companies like Google and Facebook, which are just beginning to up their game in Washington.

With the help of their well-stocked political action committees, the three wireless and cable giants last election cycle cast a wide net, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance data. They targeted many of the 65 newcomers to Capitol Hill along with scores of familiar incumbents as the industry prepares for new legislative battles in 2015 over net neutrality and other communications laws.


It’s a sign that the telecoms, which are longtime players in D.C. with formidable lobbying operations, remain skilled practitioners in how to develop allies and do business in the capital. Tech companies, by contrast, played it safe and generally supported only congressional veterans during the midterms.

“Looking back on the time I was in Congress, … the telephone companies, the cable companies, were always major political players,” said former Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.), who led the House’s top tech subcommittee and is now a partner at Sidley Austin. The current pattern of telecom donations is a sign “there’s still this level of campaign involvement by major participating companies. I think it may be in anticipation that things can actually happen.”?

AT&T donated big bucks to 31 first-time pols, or almost half of all congressional freshmen, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance data. That includes Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), who’s set to replace her husband Rep. John Dingell, a congressional veteran with significant telecom expertise. Verizon wrote checks to 28 new members, including incoming Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) and Sen.-elect Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). Comcast supported 22 newcomers to Congress.

Google and Microsoft, by contrast, each supported only five members of the new freshman class, and other major tech companies backed fewer than that, according to federal records.

AT&T and Comcast did not comment for this story. Verizon only pointed to its transparency report, which indicates the company donates to candidates based on their “votes and positions on issues of importance to Verizon, which may include issues affecting the business community in general or the communications industry specifically.”

Sowing seeds of support among new members could prove helpful to wireless and cable giants in 2015, when Congress begins weighing whether to update the Communications Act, the nation’s guiding telecom law, and dives into debates over net neutrality and wireless spectrum. The House and Senate telecom leaders — Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Greg Walden (R-Ore.), and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) — already have promised such inquiries. And leaders of the soon-to-be GOP Congress are likely to be receptive to telecom company complaints about overreaching government regulation.

AT&T and Comcast have also tapped congressional allies to help advance their proposed mergers, which are under review by federal regulators at the FCC and Justice Department. AT&T is looking to buy DirecTV for $48.5 billion and Comcast is seeking to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45 billion.

“It’s all about access,” said Viveca Novak, a spokeswoman for the Center for Responsive Politics. “It’s possible a freshman will remember those who gave to him or her in the early, tough days.”

The donations to freshman members represent only a small fraction of the millions of dollars that major telecom companies spent in 2013 and 2014. Some players this election cycle even broke records: Comcast’s $3.6 million in campaign spending and Verizon’s $2.6 million tab represent new highs for each company. AT&T spent $3.6 million over the same two-year period, according to federal data last updated in mid-November.

Still, within that wave of giving, the major telecoms showed they’re looking toward the future.

AT&T chipped in $5,000 to David Perdue, the newly elected Republican senator from Georgia, and $8,000 to Mike Rounds, the incoming GOP senator from South Dakota. Comcast gave $1,000 to Dave Brat, the Virginia Republican who unexpectedly bested former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in a primary earlier this year. The cable giant also shelled out $10,000 in support to Debbie Dingell and $2,000 to Ruben Gallego, a new Democratic congressman from Arizona.

Verizon supported many of the same people. It even backed two candidates in the same race — Ernst and Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley, who duked it out for Iowa’s open Senate seat.

Internet giants also supercharged their election spending this cycle as they pursue an expanded array of interests in D.C. Google spent more than $1.6 million, while Facebook spent around $480,000 — records for both companies. But tech giants donated considerably more to incumbents than congressional newcomers.

Still, Novak said the money spigot for new members of Congress is only beginning to flow.

“For companies that did not give during the campaign, you’ll see them giving frequently right after the election,” she said.