Place Your Bets

This is going to be the first in a short series of posts about the most important part of any political campaign, the people money donated by large companies to each of the candidates. Thanks to the magic of both the internet and campaign finance laws we will be able to look who is putting their money on whom.

 Before this story can progress it is important to note upfront where this information is coming from and more importantly to note that this is kind of an odd time to be talking about money. This is an odd time to be talking about money because we are just about to wrap up our present quarter, which means the figures are going to be a little bit dated for this segment. I will try to update this post or provide updated figures when the information is disclosed. That being said the primary source of information is coming from Opensecerts. 

Now what horse are the big boys currently betting on? The smart money, and the actual money donated, is being put on Sen. Murray. At this early stage of reporting the ONLY company PAC to donate to both candidates is Microsoft. At present Microsoft has given $131,375 to Sen. Murray and $13,400 to Mr. Rossi. This is only the tip of the iceberg. 

The star power on Sen. Murray's list of top contributors easily outshines her opponent. Sen. Murray has in her hand support from the likes of: Act Blue, Boeing, Amazon.com, Microsoft, and The University of Washington, a veritable who's who of both the country as a whole and the tech savvy Pacific Northwest.

Mr. Rossi is not having the same level of success it would seem. Some of the names that stick out for Mr. Rossi include: Costco Wholesale, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Defend America PAC, and Nw Harley Davidson. While there are definitely some major players, this list pales in comparison to that compiled by Sen. Murray. 

Going back to Microsoft there was an enormous deficit in the amount donated. The same rule applies for all of the companies on both lists. Those giving to Sen. Murray give in large amounts tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. Again, the opposite is true for Mr. Rossi, those on his list give in the tens of thousands all the way down to just a few thousand dollars. 

We have not even peaked into the war chests of our two competitors. The money advantage is clearly on the side of the sitting Senator. This money is going to be more ads, calls, and boots on the ground; all the advantages that money bestow on a candidate. Likewise, we can also see who the big dogs are leaning to by examining these lists. At this moment the big time donors clearly favor Sen. Murray and this is to be expected. At this still early stage the deck is clearly stacked. There is a good reason that incumbent Senators do not loose bids for reelection.