Wall Street Ups Donations to GOP
The Hill reports:
Wall Street and financial interests are putting their money behind a handful of top-tier Senate Republican candidates as the GOP looks to win back power in the midterm elections.
The industry's contributions, which favored Democrats in recent election cycles, are now helping Republicans vie for control of the Senate.
Between February and June, financial, insurance and real estate interests contributed heavily to five Senate Republican candidates: Ohio's Rob Portman ($820,000), Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey ($728,000), California's Carly Fiorina ($650,000), Illinois' Mark Kirk ($618,000) and Florida's Marco Rubio ($613,000), according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Republicans say the shift in donations is another sign of growing concern about the Democrats’ agenda, which has included broad new financial regulations.
“We’re seeing a shift in support towards Republicans because the message of restoring accountability in Washington and serving as a check on the Democrats’ agenda of more spending and higher taxes is clearly resonating,” said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.Seven of the top 10 recipients of financial industry contributions from February to June were Republicans, the data shows. New York Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer ($1.52 million) and Kirsten Gillibrand ($788,000), and Connecticut Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal ($707,000) were also among the top 10 recipients.
Rounding out the top 10 were House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (Va., $818,000) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio, $589,000).
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