WASHINGTON -- Donors to this summer's Republican and Democratic national conventions have spent more than $800 million on federal campaign contributions and lobbying since 2005, according to an analysis released Wednesday.
The report, by the Campaign Finance Institute, follows one the group issued recently detailing a loophole in campaign finance rules that allows corporations to give millions in tax-deductible donations to the conventions. The institute says its new report, by showing that convention donors invest heavily in political spending, suggests that convention donations are motivated by political interest as much as the civic interest that makes them tax-exempt.
The institute, which describes itself as nonpartisan and is affiliated with George Washington University, reported that 107 organizational donors to the host committees have given nearly $100 million to federal candidates and parties since 2005, primarily through political action committees (PACs). These same donors also spent more than $700 million during the same period to lobby Congress and federal agencies.
Twenty-three of the 53 companies that made donations to the host committee for the Republican convention in St. Paul are Minnesota-based, according to the report; seven of those companies also donated to the Democratic convention, which will be held in Denver. The Minnesota companies donated more than $9 million to federal candidates and parties and spent nearly $66 million in federal lobbying since 2005, the report said.
Major corporations are expected to provide the bulk of the $55 million in private donations to the Democratic convention in Denver and $57 million for the Republican convention in the Twin Cities.
Host committees aren't required to report the contributions they receive or their expenses until 60 days after the nominating conventions, which differs from the requirements for candidates and parties.
Several Minnesota companies have publicly announced their donation totals. The largest include $6 million to each convention from Qwest Communications, which is based in Denver but does extensive business in Minnesota; Xcel Energy's $2.25 million to the Democratic convention and $1.2 million to the GOP event; UnitedHealth Group's donation of $1.5 million and St. Jude Medical's $1 million, both to the Republican convention.
The Federal Election Commission has stood by the longstanding exception in campaign finance rules that classifies donations to the conventions as tax-exempt; it says such donations are meant to help promote the convention city and aren't used as a lobbying tool.
