According to analysis by USA Today, a handful of rich donors in six states — Nevada, Wyoming, Arkansas, Texas, Utah and Oklahoma — and Washington, D.C., are fueling the 2012 election campaign. Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, notes in the report that the geographic breakdown is a function of where wealthy super PAC givers happen to live.
The concentration of political money in just a handful of states illustrates how the free-for-all spending of the 2012 election has changed the campaign fundraising map in ways not seen the post-Watergate laws imposed contribution limits. Outside spending already has topped $113 million in this election, more than four times the amount at this point in the 2008 campaign.
By contrast, three crucial presidential battlegrounds — Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — together account for less than 2% of all super PAC contributions. …
Individuals and organizations in the securities and investment industry have donated $31 million to super PACs, the most of any sector, Krumholz’s group found. Not surprisingly, New York, the nation’s financial center, emerges as the No. 4 city in super PAC donations in the USA Today analysis.”
Read more about the breakdown at USAToday.com »
