The 170-plus Republicans who declined to be elected to Congress had some important last-minute help, according to a new analysis of corporate political donations.
Big companies and industry trade associations gave him more than $165,000 in the last few weeks of the 2022 midterm elections, corporate influence watchdog Accountable said. The 2020 election fraud has all but evaporated.
About $113,000 went to Ted Budd (RN.C.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), two victorious Senate candidates who refused to admit that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential race. Mullin also accused Democrats of trying to steal the midterms 2022. Together, they received dozens of corporate campaign contributions from food and beverage conglomerates, finance and fossil fuel companies.
The scale of the funding marks a clear re-establishment of the company’s request. Shortly after the January 6, 2021, uprising in the US Capitol, many corporate political action committees suspended donations to Republicans who attacked the mass and voted not to certify the 2020 election.
The latest analysis only includes contributions made in the last three weeks of the midterms, which do not have to be disclosed before the election, according to federal reporting guidelines. Among the top providers are FedEx, Walmart, US Bancorp and Lowe’s.
The total amount donated by American companies to the Republicans who support the big lie is bigger: about $67 million since the violent uprising in the Capitol, Accountable.US previously estimated. The top overall recipients were new Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Reps. Steve Scalise (La.), Sam Graves (Mo.), Jason Smith (Mo.) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (Mo.).
A separate analysis by OpenSecrets determined the top donors to abstain from voting were the National Association of Realtors, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, the National Auto Dealers Association, the American Bankers Association and American Crystal Sugar.