Republican members of Congress who voted against certifying 2020 presidential election results received over $22.2 million from corporate PACs between Jan. 7, 2021, and June 30, 2022, a new OpenSecrets analysis found.
The 147 election objectors in the Senate and House members voted against certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in Arizona or Pennsylvania amid a violent attack on the Capitol that injured police officers, forced lawmakers to evacuate and left at least seven people dead.
Three members of what critics dubbed the “Sedition Caucus” have since left Congress, and 122 are running for office in 2022. According to filings with the FEC, six Republican incumbents lost their primaries — three in the House and and three in the Senate.
In the wake of the Jan. 6 attack, scores of private companies declared they would completely stop, pause or reevaluate PAC giving to election objectors. But several corporations resumed PAC giving to these lawmakers within a month of the attack.
Koch Industries’ PAC was the largest corporate PAC contributor to members of Congress who voted against election certification, with more than $607,000 disbursed to campaigns or leadership PACs. Home Depot, Boeing Co. and United Parcel Service closely follow with more than $500,000 each in corporate PAC contributions.
More election objectors — 52 — received funds from Koch Industries’ PAC than any other corporate PAC. Home Depot PAC is a close second, donating about $593,000 to 44 members. Boeing Co. follows with $520,000 to 27 members.
Sara Gorman, Home Depot’s senior director of corporate communications, told OpenSecrets that the company’s PAC supports candidates on both sides of the aisle who champion pro-business, pro-retail positions that create jobs and economic growth. “It’s pretty evenly split,” Gorman said, adding that the PAC is also one of the largest donors to members of the New Democrat Caucus and the Congressional Black Caucus.
Boeing President and CEO David Calhoun issued a statement promoting the spirit of bipartisanship and the peaceful transition of government shortly after the Jan. 6 attack.
A media relations spokesperson for Boeing declined to comment further. Koch Industries and United Parcel Service did not respond to OpenSecrets’ request for comment.
Senators in the “Sedition Caucus”
While dozens of Senators announced their intention to vote against certification, just eight Senators — all Republicans — followed through after the violent attack on the Capitol. But several House members who objected to certification are now running for Senate seats and the small group of senators who objected to certification of 2020 election results are also some of the top recipients of corporate PAC funds.
Sen. John Kennedy, Louisiana’s incumbent senator since 2016, received more corporate PAC money since the Jan. 6 attack than any other election objector. The Cook Political Report rates his seat solidly Republican.
His campaign took more than $334,000 from corporate PACs, and his leadership PAC received about $70,000 more. The corporate PACs of Koch Industries and Capital One contributed the highest amounts of $20,000 each to him. Home Depot’s and Charter Communications’ corporate PACs contributed $15,000, while Valero Energy’s PAC gave $12,500.
Kennedy voted against the conviction of former President Donald Trump during the Senate’s impeachment trial and questioned 2020 election results, reportedly sending an email in December 2020 that claimed there was an excessiveness of “tomfoolery” and “a few too many shenanigans.”
In January 2021, Kennedy released a joint statement claiming that the presidential election was “rife with allegations of fraud and irregularities that exceed any in our lifetimes.”
Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wis.) received the second highest amount of $167,000 in corporate PAC contributions since rioters stormed the Capitol. She called Trump’s second impeachment inquiry “political theater” and later wrote a letter challenging the legitimacy of Biden’s 2020 victory.
Despite her misgivings about the election results, Lummis condemned the Jan. 6 incident in a public statement.
“I have serious concerns about election integrity,” her statement read. “But today’s sickening, un-American attack on the Capitol overshadowed that debate.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ PAC contributed $14,000 in total to Lummis’ campaign and leadership PAC, making it her top PAC contributor. Other contributors to Lummis include corporate PACs affiliated with Koch Industries, Rock Holdings, Pinnacle West Capital, Burns & McDonnell and UBS AG.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) received $133,500 from the corporate PACs of Southern Co, United Parcel Service, Maynard, Cooper & Gale, Drummond Co. and Torch Technologies. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who called Trump’s impeachment trial “a complete waste of time,” received the same amount from several other corporate PACs including Koch Industries, Home Depot, Apollo Global Management and NextEra Energy, among others.
On Nov. 5, 2020, when the presidential election votes were still being counted, Tuberville tweeted that the election results were “out of control.” Before he was even sworn in as senator, Tuberville objected to congressional certification of the presidential election.
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) received close to $120,000 from the corporate PACs of companies including Southern Co. and General Atomics, among others.
To justify her opposition to the Electoral College results, Hyde-Smith claimed she heard from many Mississippians “troubled” by conduct during the election and its results. Following Trump’s acquittal, she released another statement announcing her support on the vote to acquit the former president.
“His speech on Jan. 6 neither implicitly nor explicitly encouraged the use of violence or lawless action,” the statement read.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), who opposed the impeachment of Trump and claimed voting irregularities marred the 2020 presidential election, received a total of $108,000 in contributions from corporate PACs between the Jan. 6 attack and June 30, 2022. Marshall’s donors include corporate PACs affiliated with companies such as Koch Industries, Home Depot, Pfizer Inc. and United Health Group.
Pfizer swore off donating to any of the 147 election objectors for at least six months following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. But OpenSecrets data shows the company gave $2,500 to the Lone Star Leadership PAC, connected to Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas), the week following the Jan. 6 attack. Keep America Rolling PAC, connected to Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.), received another $2,500 from Pfizer in February 2021.
Two senators who voted against certification, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), swore off corporate PAC contributions after corporations’ exodus from political giving to election objectors.
Despite his pledge, Cruz reported $31,500 in corporate PAC contributions since the Jan. 6 attack with most of that going to his leadership PACs. His funders include the corporate PACs of companies including Boeing Co, Community Bancshares of Mississippi, Brownstein Hyatt et al, Apache Corp and TC Energy. Since losing to Trump in the 2016 presidential primaries, Cruz has been considered one of the most loyal allies of the former president, casting doubt on 2020 election results and spreading disproven claims of election fraud.
Hawley received $5,000 each from Community Bancshares of Mississippi and Marathon Petroleum’s PACs. But OpenSecrets’ data show that the money was returned between the Jan. 6 attack and June 30, 2022.
According to reporting by the Washington Post, a Marathon Petroleum spokesperson said that the company condemned the “appalling” and “unequivocal” violence of Jan. 6. It led to a decision to suspend political donations to election objectors, although a resumption date was not specified.
Corporate PAC Money in the House
Corporate PACs steered more than $19.7 million to 139 U.S. House members who voted against certification of the 2020 presidential election between the Jan. 6 attack and June 30, 2022.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was the biggest benefactor of corporate cash among House election objectors during that period.
McCarthy has echoed Trump’s false claims questioning 2020 election results and opposed the formation of the bipartisan commission for investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Nevertheless, McCarthy’s campaign and leadership PAC received a total of $921,400 from the corporate PACs of 14 companies including Wells Fargo, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Comcast.
Reps. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) and Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Sen. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) each amassed more than $519,000 from corporate PAC donors since the Jan. 6 attack. Luetkemeyer crossed the $600,000 mark and Scalise received over $700,000.
Accountable U.S. — a nonpartisan watchdog group — zeroed in corporate PAC contributions from Fortune 500 companies and trade groups that issued public statements on the Jan. 6 attack. At least 77 PACs affiliated with those companies or trade groups gave to one or more election objector.
The American Bankers Association PAC contributed over $501,000 to 107 election objectors. An association spokesperson told Insider that the Jan. 6 attack was “an assault on our democracy” and promised to review its political activities, adding the “troubling events” would be a point of consideration.
The bankers association PAC gave Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) more than any other election objector with $10,500 between the Jan. 6 attack and June 30 of this year. Guest was one among 126 signers of the amicus brief filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) in a lawsuit that sought to impede the Electoral College vote. Guest also co-sponsored a bill that challenged the integrity of mail-in voting in December 2020.
Guest received another $74,500 in PAC contributions from corporate PACs affiliated with companies including Southern Co., Raytheon Technologies, Huntington Ingalls Industries, Nucor Corp and Mississippi ACRE, according to OpenSecrets data. Facing reelection in 2022, Guest won the GOP primary runoff in the race to keep his House seat with over 67% vote.
Election objectors who received PAC contributions but are no longer in office include Reps. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.). They collectively received $525,000 from the corporate PACs of companies including Home Depot, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Koch Industries, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Exxon Mobil and Rolls-Royce PLC.
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