{"id":3879,"date":"2022-11-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www-prod.greenpeace.org\/usa\/campaign-updates\/3879\/big-oil-money-looms-large-in-competitive-elections\/"},"modified":"2024-12-12T19:05:27","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T19:05:27","slug":"big-oil-money-looms-large-in-competitive-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/usa\/big-oil-money-looms-large-in-competitive-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Oil Money Looms Large in Competitive Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the closest federal races, the oil & gas industry has spent an estimated average of $4.3 million per Senate seat and $490,000 per House seat through direct contributions, funding for party committees, and funding for super PACs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"People
Indigenous youth lead hundreds to the Capitol.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During this election cycle, 20 oil & gas companies and industry trade associations contributed more than $52 million to right-wing super PACs and party fundraising committees, and more than $4 million to candidate PACs. Much of the spending was used to support Republican candidates running in competitive Senate and House districts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whereas direct contributions are subject to strict federal limits, super PACs and party committees can spend unlimited amounts to influence elections (following certain rules). Big Oil contributed much more to these groups than directly to candidates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Donors give to super PACs and party committees that align with their political goals, paying close attention to how the money is used. We should also be paying attention. In this analysis, an attribution method was used to estimate how much the oil & gas industry spent in each toss-up race\u2014races where both parties have more than a 40% chance and less than a 60% chance of winning\u2014through funding for party committees and super PACs, in addition to direct contributions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Big Oil\u2019s spending was so high that in 10 out of the 14 races analyzed, oil & gas-attributed spending outweighed the amount that one or both candidates raised from small donors <\/b>(donors who contributed $200 or less). These races are bolded in the tables below.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oil & gas industry support for Republican candidates in toss-up Senate races\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Candidate<\/span><\/td>\nDirect contributions<\/span><\/td>\nEstimated support through funding for party committees and super PACs<\/span><\/td>\nTotal<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mehmet Oz (<\/b>PA<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$5,000<\/b><\/td>\n$5,451,562\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\n$5,456,562\u00a0<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Herschel Walker (<\/span>GA<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/td>\n$0<\/span><\/td>\n$5,313,092<\/span><\/td>\n$5,313,092<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Adam Laxalt (<\/span>NV<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/td>\n$25,000<\/span><\/td>\n$2,002,158<\/span><\/td>\n$2,027,158<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source: Greenpeace USA analysis using data from <\/span>OpenSecrets<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>FiveThirtyEight<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Oil & gas industry support for Republican candidates in toss-up House races<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Candidate<\/span><\/td>\nDirect contributions<\/span><\/td>\nEstimated support through funding for party committees and super PACs<\/span><\/td>\nTotal<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mark Robertson (<\/b>NV-1<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$0<\/b><\/td>\n$857,834<\/b><\/td>\n$857,834<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lisa Scheller (<\/b>PA-7<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$5,000<\/b><\/td>\n$684,285<\/b><\/td>\n$689,285<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mayra Flores (<\/b>TX-34<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$10,000<\/b><\/td>\n$605,023<\/b><\/td>\n$615,023<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jen A. Kiggans (<\/b>VA-2<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$5,000<\/b><\/td>\n$597,660<\/b><\/td>\n$602,660<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
David Valadao (<\/b>CA-22<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$21,000<\/b><\/td>\n$578,591<\/b><\/td>\n$599,591<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jeremy Shaffer (<\/b>PA-17<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$5,000<\/b><\/td>\n$591,140<\/b><\/td>\n$596,140<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Marcus Molinaro (<\/b>NY-19<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$0<\/b><\/td>\n$446,876<\/b><\/td>\n$446,876<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Allan W. Fung (<\/b>RI-2<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$5,000<\/b><\/td>\n$310,527<\/b><\/td>\n$315,527<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nick Begich III (<\/b>AK<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$0<\/b><\/td>\n$299,241<\/b><\/td>\n$299,241<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Monica De La Cruz (<\/span>TX-15<\/span><\/a>)<\/span><\/td>\n$20,000<\/span><\/td>\n$212,344<\/span><\/td>\n$232,344<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
John Gibbs (<\/b>MI-3<\/b><\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n$0<\/b><\/td>\n$231,870<\/b><\/td>\n$231,870<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source: Greenpeace USA analysis using data from <\/span>OpenSecrets<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>FiveThirtyEight<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

METHODOLOGY<\/b><\/p>\n

For each toss-up race (as per <\/span>FiveThirtyEight\u2019s deluxe model<\/span><\/a>, 11\/3\/2022), oil & gas industry totals were calculated for: (1) direct contributions to Republican candidates and (2) support for Republican candidates through funding for party committees and super PACs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first total refers to direct contributions made by oil & gas organization-affiliated PACs to candidate PACs.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second total refers to independent expenditures supporting a candidate (or opposing the Democrat in the race) that were indirectly funded by oil & gas organizations\u2019 donations to party committees and super PACs. A two-step attribution method was used to calculate this total. First, the amount contributed by oil & gas organizations to each super PAC and party committee was calculated. Next, the amount contributed to each committee was multiplied by a spend factor per candidate (e.g., <\/span>Committee\u2019s Independent Expenditures for Candidate X \u00f7 Committee\u2019s Overall Spend<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n

The calculated totals are conservative because they account for just the top 20 oil & gas organizations with the highest political spending and the top 6 super PACs and party committees that received the most money from them. In other words, the real totals are almost certainly much higher. Additionally, direct contributions from party committees to candidates were omitted. They are often much less than independent expenditures due to federal contribution limits.<\/span><\/p>\n

A sample calculation is included below:<\/span><\/p>\n