Real estate money favors Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential race, according to statistics posted at opensecrets.org, a Web site operated by The Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan, nonprofit research group.
Real estate industry contributors gave $3.94 million to the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., according to data released on Oct. 29 by the U.S. Federal Election Commission.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was second with $3.3 million in real estate industry contributions, followed by Republican candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani with $2.9 million, Democratic contender Barack Obama with $2.3 million and Republican candidate John McCain with $1.7 million.
The National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee had total receipts of $5.5 million in the 2007-08 election cycle through Dec. 31, according to FEC reports, with $3.9 million in individual contributions, $2.1 million in total disbursements and $4.9 million in cash on hand.
And opensecrets.org also reports that the National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee had $3 million in total expenditures during the 2007-08 election cycle, based on federal election information released Jan. 2, just behind the AT&T Inc. PAC.
The Realtor trade group’s members and PAC are typically a major force in federal election contributions.
In the 2005-06 election cycle, NAR contributed $4 million to federal candidates and political parties through its PAC and individual and soft-money donations that are not contributed directly to campaigns. In 2007, the National Association of Realtors spent $6.4 million on lobbying.
Election contributions in the 2005-06 cycle were down from a peak of $4.5 million in the 2001-02 election cycle.
By comparison, the entire real estate industry contributed $73.8 million to federal candidates and campaigns in the 2005-06 election cycle.
Contributions by the Realtor PAC and individuals have been roughly balanced between Democratic and Republican parties and candidates, with 49 percent of 2005-06 spending to Democrats and 50 percent to Republicans.
As of the Oct. 29, 2007, FEC report, NAR’s PAC and individuals had contributed $893,850 to federal candidates and political parties, 53 percent on the Democratic side and 47 percent to Republicans.
Democratic presidential candidates Clinton and Obama topped the list in total money raised from all sources: Clinton had raised $90.9 million and spent $40.5 million through the third-quarter, with year-end reports due Jan. 31.
Obama had raised $80.3 million and spent $44.2 million through the third quarter, according to opensecrets.org.
Romney led Republican presidential candidates with $62.8 million in total money raised and $53.6 million spent through the third quarter, followed by Giuliani with $47.3 million raised and $30.6 million spent. Next on the list was McCain with $32.1 million raised and $28.6 million spent.
The Republican National Committee had spent $65.7 million in the 2007-08 election cycle as of FEC data released Jan. 2, opensecrets.org reports, compared with $51.4 million by the Democratic National Committee.
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