How much have BUSINESS-listed donors given federally?

LobbyVault attributes $3,361,590 to the BUSINESS employer string, from 8,714 contributions and 301 donors. These are itemized individual receipts on FEC.gov, not a chamber PAC and not a NAICS all-industries total. Unitemized gifts are omitted. Figures are limited to that FEC employer string as indexed on LobbyVault.

Is BUSINESS OWNER included?

Only if those receipts grouped to the one-word BUSINESS key. BUSINESS OWNER, BUSINESSMAN, and SELF-EMPLOYED are separate grouped keys if filers used them. The $3.4M total is receipts whose employer text grouped to BUSINESS. LobbyVault does not merge those variants into this row. Unitemized gifts are omitted.

Does this include people who typed a company legal name?

No. Company legal names are separate employer strings if stored that way. A receipt counted here carries the grouped text BUSINESS. Staff who typed only OWNER are in that title row instead. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer string as indexed on LobbyVault.

How many unique donors listed BUSINESS?

The rollup counts 301 donors and 8,714 contribution lines. Repeat gifts raise the receipt count. This is not a private-sector employment headcount. Figures are limited to the FEC string as indexed on LobbyVault; unitemized gifts and non-federal filings are omitted.

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BUSINESS

Total Donated

$3,361,590

Contributions

8,714

Unique Donors

301

Top Employer

BUSINESS

Filers who listed BUSINESS on federal campaign reports account for $3.4M ($3,361,590) in itemized receipts on FEC.gov. The cluster holds 8,714 contributions and 301 donors. BUSINESS is a one-word function stamp as typed, not a NAICS all-industries total, not a chamber PAC, and not BUSINESS OWNER, BUSINESSMAN, BUSINESSWOMAN, or a company legal name.

Key figures

BUSINESS as FEC employer text totals $3.4M ($3,361,590) from 301 donors.
8,714 contribution lines sit under that one-word function stamp.
BUSINESS OWNER and SELF-EMPLOYED are separate FEC keys.
The label is self-reported form text, not a NAICS industry or chamber PAC total.

One-word function, not a private-sector recode

Three hundred one unique donors produced 8,714 contributions totaling $3,361,590. About 29 itemized gifts per person and a mean gift near $386 describe the arithmetic. BUSINESS OWNER, BUSINESSMAN, BUSINESS EXECUTIVE, SELF-EMPLOYED, and COMPANY can exist as other keys. They are not inside $3,361,590 unless they grouped to BUSINESS.

Top employer matches BUSINESS. The FEC field records what was typed, not a Census private-sector category covering every firm. LobbyVault does not recode BUSINESS OWNER or company legal names into this one-word stamp. Researchers who want a combined self-employment family must recode after export. Three hundred one unique people is a narrower roster than several university stamps at similar dollars.

301 donors and 8,714 lines

8,714 lines from 301 people is a moderate receipt pattern relative to the dollar total. Mean per donor is about $11,168. The packet does not publish an owner-versus-employee split, an industry cut, or a cycle year.

Party share is not on the industry headline. Independent expenditures and association PAC filings are outside the $3,361,590 unless an individual receipt itself carries this employer string. Unitemized gifts never appear. Coverage is itemized federal individual receipts only.

Full analysis: BUSINESS money in federal elections →

Questions

How much have BUSINESS-listed donors given federally?: LobbyVault attributes $3,361,590 to the BUSINESS employer string, from 8,714 contributions and 301 donors. These are itemized individual receipts on FEC.gov, not a chamber PAC and not a NAICS all-industries total. Unitemized gifts are omitted. Figures are limited to that FEC employer string as indexed on LobbyVault.
Is BUSINESS OWNER included?: Only if those receipts grouped to the one-word BUSINESS key. BUSINESS OWNER, BUSINESSMAN, and SELF-EMPLOYED are separate grouped keys if filers used them. The $3.4M total is receipts whose employer text grouped to BUSINESS. LobbyVault does not merge those variants into this row. Unitemized gifts are omitted.
Does this include people who typed a company legal name?: No. Company legal names are separate employer strings if stored that way. A receipt counted here carries the grouped text BUSINESS. Staff who typed only OWNER are in that title row instead. Figures on this answer are limited to that FEC employer string as indexed on LobbyVault.
How many unique donors listed BUSINESS?: The rollup counts 301 donors and 8,714 contribution lines. Repeat gifts raise the receipt count. This is not a private-sector employment headcount. Figures are limited to the FEC string as indexed on LobbyVault; unitemized gifts and non-federal filings are omitted.

Industry labels come from FEC employer/occupation self-reports, not NAICS. Data from FEC.gov via LobbyVault.

Cycle-over-Cycle Trend

2018 · $353,751 2016 · $242,651 2008 · $192,347 2000 · $181,607 2012 · $178,041 2010 · $160,915 2014 · $147,660 2004 · $123,617 2002 · $75,175 2006 · $66,636

BUSINESS political contributions by election cycle.
Cycle	Total	Contributions	Donors
1980	$7,550	12	7
1982	$3,500	5	3
1984	$1,000	2	1
1986	$21,190	30	18
1988	$45,152	55	43
1990	$28,920	51	31
1992	$34,000	52	17
1994	$30,262	51	18
1996	$55,540	84	39
1998	$58,399	70	42
2000	$181,607	208	104
2002	$75,175	96	62
2004	$123,617	114	53
2006	$66,636	89	37
2008	$192,347	165	53
2010	$160,915	143	44
2012	$178,041	189	52
2014	$147,660	127	32
2016	$242,651	679	45
2018	$353,751	827	42

Top Donors

Top BUSINESS donors ranked by total donated.
#	Name	Total	Contributions	City / State	Occupation	History
1	MOUYIARIS, CAROL	$142,650	50	NEW YORK, NY	—	1988–2014
2	O'CONNOR, SUSAN	$137,613	71	GRAND ISLAND, NE	—	1988–2014
3	SUGARMAN, BURT	$104,695	56	BEVERLY HILLS, CA	—	1988–2014
4	BERGER, MICHAEL N	$54,855	97	PITTSBURGH, PA	—	2000–2014
5	TAUB, HENRY J N	$54,437	98	HOUSTON, TX	—	1980–2004
6	FORAKER, EDWARD	$48,200	91	SCOTTSDALE, AZ	—	2000–2014
7	MARCUS, DAVID	$42,054	46	CLEVELAND, OH	—	1988–2014
8	LEVOVITZ, MOREY	$35,700	29	LOS ANGELES, CA	—	2002–2012
9	HURLBUT, ROBERT W	$33,800	28	ROCHESTER, NY	—	1994–2014
10	MOINIAN, MAHNAZ	$33,525	18	NEW YORK, NY	—	1998–2014
11	LINDLEY, WALTER	$32,000	86	WILLIAMS, OR	—	1996–2014
12	JOHNSON, PAUL MR	$30,160	40	PHOENIX, AZ	—	1980–2014
13	PHILLIPS, TODD	$22,711	17	ORMOND BEACH, FL	—	1998–2014
14	MOSS, DIANNE	$22,160	15	DALLAS, TX	—	2000–2014
15	HERNANDEZ, ENRIQUE	$21,250	29	SAN MARINO, CA	—	1980–2014
16	NEPOLA, THOMAS E	$20,000	1	HO HO KUS, NJ	—	2000
17	MULLINS, JOSEPH	$19,950	21	BRAINTREE, MA	—	1988–2014
18	CHAO, MAY	$18,900	10	NEW YORK, NY	—	1986–2008
19	FAHEY, MIKE	$18,316	17	OMAHA, NE	—	1988–2014
20	HIGHET, ELINOR	$18,000	12	TIGARD, OR	—	2000–2012
21	SWEETMAN, G P	$17,250	14	COLORADO SPRINGS, CO	—	1990–2014
22	ANDERSON, REBECCA MS	$17,249	16	PALOS VERDES, CA	—	1986–2016
23	CHESWICK, RUTH	$16,700	14	DARIEN, CT	—	2000–2012
24	THOMASES, JEFFREY	$15,500	23	SHORT HILLS, NJ	—	1988–2012
25	KIRSHENBAUM, JOSEPH	$14,607	22	OMAHA, NE	—	1988–2012
26	VANN, LARRY	$14,350	8	BUFFALO, NY	—	2000–2012
27	ILYAS, MUHAMMAD	$13,000	24	BROOKLYN, NY	—	1988–2010
28	EVERETT, DON	$12,550	24	LINCOLN, NE	—	1988–2014
29	MATHEW, PAUL E	$12,285	10	SILVER SPRING, MD	—	2000–2002
30	PASSAN, JOHN J	$12,125	13	WILKES BARRE, PA	—	1980–2010
31	KUGIES, CHO YOUNG MS	$10,750	5	BELMONT, CA	—	2000–2012
32	NICAUD, KENT	$9,500	11	PASS CHRISTIAN, MS	—	1998–2006
33	HASSE, PAUL	$8,850	21	VERMILLION, SD	—	1990–2014
34	BOULET, RUTH	$8,750	14	PRINCETON, NJ	—	1998–2012
35	TRACY, MICHAEL	$8,438	21	SCOTTSBLUFF, NE	—	1988–2014
36	DOUGLAS, WILLIAM MR	$8,251	25	YAKIMA, WA	—	2000–2014
37	Maheshwari, Manmohn Mr.	$8,000	4	Clearfield, PA	—	2002–2004
38	MASRI, ZAHER	$7,000	3	MC LEAN, VA	—	2000
39	MATTHEW, PAUL E	$6,890	2	SILVER SPRING, MD	—	2002
40	MARKOVSKI, VALERI MR	$6,574	2	FORT LEE, NJ	—	1998
41	GOLDBLATT, JEREMY	$6,566	4	CHICAGO, IL	BUSINESS	2008–2010
42	CHU, JAMES	$6,450	12	WATERBURY, CT	—	1986–2012
43	WITBECK, NORMAN	$6,250	7	ARLINGTON, VA	—	2000–2010
44	POTTMEYER, THOMAS	$6,200	8	PASADENA, CA	—	2000–2010
45	MUELLER, KEN	$6,100	14	GOLDEN, CO	—	1996–2010
46	STEINSCHRABER, JAIME I MR	$5,710	9	FLUSHING, NY	—	1986–1990
47	BELL, F ROBERT	$5,315	16	ANCHORAGE, AK	—	1996–2014
48	MULLETT, DONALD H	$5,200	7	MENOMONEE FLS, WI	—	1994–2010
49	MEHRA, RAMESH	$5,100	3	NAPERVILLE, IL	BUSINESS	2008–2014
50	JENSEN, ARNE	$5,000	4	BOSTON, MA	—	2000–2004

Top Recipients

Top political committees that received BUSINESS donations.
#	Committee	Total	Contributions
1	ACTBLUEC00401224	$283,896	531
2	WINREDC00694323	$144,960	386
3	MCCARTHY VICTORY FUNDC00541011	$116,395	71
4	UNITE THE COUNTRYC00701888	$105,000	18
5	DSCCC00042366	$74,961	489
6	REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEEC00003418	$65,934	425
7	TRUMP VICTORYC00618389	$60,000	11
8	OBAMA FOR AMERICAC00431445	$51,862	502
9	DNC SERVICES CORP / DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEEC00010603	$47,767	573
10	NRSCC00027466	$37,154	318
11	FRIENDS OF GIULIANI EXPLORATORY COMMITTEEC00335521	$36,000	113
12	DCCCC00000935	$34,151	378
13	ILLINOIS SENATE 2010C00476630	$32,800	50
14	HILLARY FOR AMERICAC00575795	$31,617	290
15	FRIENDS OF JOHN SARBANESC00415182	$30,100	50
16	META PLATFORMS, INC. PACC00502906	$30,000	46
17	OBAMA VICTORY FUND 2012C00494740	$25,825	260
18	TAKE BACK THE HOUSE 2020C00695585	$25,000	56
19	DAINES MONTANA VICTORY COMMITTEEC00506865	$25,000	56
20	CLUB FOR GROWTH PACC00432260	$24,900	91
21	FIGHT FOR THE PEOPLE PACC00703975	$24,785	442
22	TRUMP MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN COMMITTEEC00618371	$24,181	243
23	ROMNEY VICTORY, INC.C00518282	$23,950	147
24	MONTANA DEMOCRATIC PARTYC00010033	$22,500	71
25	FRIENDS OF SCHUMERC00346312	$20,950	122