REAL ESTATE
2012 Election Cycle
Total Donated
$3,096,620
Contributions
2,479
Unique Donors
635
Donors who listed Real Estate as the employer/industry string gave $4,030,949 in itemized individual contributions during the 2012 FEC cycle. The slice covers 3,001 contributions from 782 donors. The same string’s all-cycle total in this table is $66,412,750, so 2012 accounts for 6.1% of that roll. Real Estate here is a self-reported label, not a Census NAICS sector and not a trade-association PAC.
Key figures
- $4,030,949 tagged Real Estate in the 2012 FEC cycle.
- 3,001 contributions from 782 donors; about $1,343 per contribution.
- 2012 is 6.1% of the grouping’s $66,412,750 all-cycle total.
- The label is a self-reported string, not a NAICS sector total.
- Source: FEC.gov individual contribution aggregates.
Occupation-style strings versus named firms
Many FEC employer fields are job labels: real estate, realtor, broker. LobbyVault’s Real Estate grouping collects those strings. The 2012 intersection with that grouping is $4,030,949. That is a different object from a named brokerage’s row. A donor who typed a company name may sit in another industry key even if they sell property for a living.
The join exists because searchers ask two questions at once: how much did “real estate” donors give, and how much of that landed in 2012. Answering only the first question hides the presidential-year cut. Answering only the second question hides that 782 people, not a handful of developers, populate this particular cell.
Housing markets, listing volume, and mortgage rates are not in these facts. The $4,030,949 is a tagged sum of itemized federal receipts whose employer/occupation field grouped to Real Estate in 2012. A broker who listed Keller Williams sits in a named-firm key, not here. A developer who listed only Real Estate sits here. That split is a filing choice. The 3,001 lines and 782 donors describe the people who made that choice in a presidential cycle, not the National Association of Realtors’ membership roll.
Volume: thousands of lines, hundreds of donors
Three thousand one contributions and 782 donors describe a broad, small-dollar-leaning pattern relative to one-donor keys. Average gift size is about $1,343 ($4,030,949 ÷ 3,001). Average per donor is about $5,155. Contributions per donor average about 3.8. Those ratios sit inside a presidential cycle, when more committees solicit itemized gifts. They are not a survey of the housing market.
Itemization thresholds mean many small gifts never appear. The 782 donor keys are people who crossed the federal itemized line and used this employer string. Retired brokers, spouses, and part-time agents can all appear if the field matched. The table does not verify licenses.
Full analysis: Real Estate political money in the 2012 election cycle →
Questions
- How much did Real Estate donors give in the 2012 FEC cycle?
- The join records $4,030,949 in itemized individual contributions for the Real Estate grouping in 2012, from 3,001 contributions and 782 donors. The grouping’s all-cycle total is $66,412,750.
- Is this the whole real-estate industry?
- No. It is a self-reported employer/industry string on FEC receipts. Named brokerages, REITs, and other spellings can sit in other keys. PAC spending and independent expenditures are not in the $4,030,949 cell.
- Why so many contributions compared with named-firm pages?
- Occupation-style labels collect many people. 3,001 lines and 782 donors produce an average of about $1,343 per contribution. Named-firm keys often show fewer donors and larger averages. Both patterns are filing artifacts.
- What share of the Real Estate grouping is 2012?
- 6.1%: $4,030,949 out of $66,412,750. Other cycles hold the rest. Compare years on the industry hub; compare employers on the 2012 cycle hub.
FEC.gov individual contribution aggregates by employer/industry grouping and election cycle.
Top Donors in 2012
| # | Name | Total | Contributions | City / State | Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ZELL, SAMUEL | $423,300 | 25 | CHICAGO, IL | — |
| 2 | KRUPP, DOUGLAS | $144,800 | 30 | BOSTON, MA | — |
| 3 | GRAY, RICHARD | $82,700 | 41 | BEAUFORT, SC | — |
| 4 | BERMAN, MARTIN | $82,673 | 13 | BOSTON, MA | — |
| 5 | FORD, TOM | $79,345 | 7 | MENLO PARK, CA | — |
| 6 | HIRSCH, JEROME | $75,800 | 2 | SCOTTSDALE, AZ | — |
| 7 | WEINDLING, LESTER | $61,500 | 22 | NEW YORK, NY | — |
| 8 | JENKINS, DAVID | $60,800 | 32 | MANITOU SPRINGS, CO | — |
| 9 | THOMPSON, DAVID | $55,937 | 77 | SEATTLE, WA | — |
| 10 | UNANUE, THOMAS | $50,000 | 1 | RIDGEWOOD, NJ | — |
| 11 | HOWARD, JOHN | $43,132 | 57 | BRANDON, MS | — |
| 12 | FETNER, HAROLD | $42,500 | 5 | NEW YORK, NY | — |
| 13 | SCHLUSSEL, DAVID | $37,200 | 29 | TEANECK, NJ | — |
| 14 | DAVIS, JONATHAN | $37,000 | 17 | CHESTNUT HILL, MA | — |
| 15 | Walters, William T. Mr. | $33,750 | 3 | Las Vegas, NV | — |
| 16 | NICOLLS, BOB MR. | $30,800 | 1 | PARKER, CO | REAL ESTATE |
| 17 | HORNE, DAVID | $30,250 | 37 | BEVERLY HILLS, CA | — |
| 18 | JACKSON, BLAKE | $28,500 | 9 | INDIANAPOLIS, IN | — |
| 19 | KADISH, LAWRENCE | $26,000 | 7 | GARDEN CITY, NY | — |
| 20 | FIELD, LAWRENCE | $25,650 | 24 | BEVERLY HILLS, CA | — |
| 21 | WEISS, RICHARD | $25,470 | 28 | BEVERLY HILLS, CA | — |
| 22 | ALLEN, HAROLD | $23,350 | 43 | WEST HAVEN, CT | — |
| 23 | LAINER, ALICE | $22,750 | 11 | LOS ANGELES, CA | — |
| 24 | SULLIVAN, WILLIAM | $22,200 | 46 | TUCSON, AZ | — |
| 25 | KERR, MICHAEL | $21,750 | 12 | WOODSBURGH, NY | — |
| 26 | CORRELL, WARD | $21,000 | 3 | SOMERSET, KY | — |
| 27 | JENSEN, JULIE | $19,250 | 17 | RAPID CITY, SD | — |
| 28 | COOPERSMITH, JONATHAN | $19,150 | 24 | POTOMAC, MD | — |
| 29 | EPSTEIN, CAROL | $19,000 | 6 | BANGOR, ME | — |
| 30 | COLIN, FRED | $19,000 | 9 | GARDEN CITY, NY | — |
| 31 | LEFRAK, RICHARD | $19,000 | 6 | FOREST HILLS, NY | — |
| 32 | FEINBERG, DAVID H | $17,500 | 6 | DENVER, CO | — |
| 33 | WEBER, WILLIAM M | $15,500 | 7 | CHAGRIN FALLS, OH | — |
| 34 | KADISH, LAWRENCE MR | $15,000 | 1 | OLD WESTBURY, NY | — |
| 35 | JOHNSON, LARRY L MR | $15,000 | 1 | JACKSON, MS | — |
| 36 | GRAY, STEPHEN | $14,528 | 16 | SPRINGFIELD, MA | — |
| 37 | ALLEN, CHARLES | $12,750 | 20 | CHICKASHA, OK | — |
| 38 | GROSS, ROBERT | $12,689 | 29 | GREAT NECK, NY | — |
| 39 | ZIELINSKI, MONICA | $12,500 | 3 | CLEMSON, SC | — |
| 40 | EPSTEIN, FRED | $12,250 | 8 | CORAL GABLES, FL | — |
| 41 | MEADOWS, MARK R | $12,190 | 35 | HIGHLANDS, NC | — |
| 42 | MCINTOSH, GEOFF | $11,887 | 14 | SEAL BEACH, CA | — |
| 43 | ZIMMERMAN, EDWARD | $11,750 | 4 | FORT LEE, NJ | — |
| 44 | URBAN, TONI O | $11,750 | 9 | DES MOINES, IA | — |
| 45 | HARTMAN, STEPHEN | $11,700 | 8 | CHAMPAIGN, IL | — |
| 46 | POPE, ART | $11,280 | 4 | RALEIGH, NC | — |
| 47 | BERGMAN, JOHN | $11,050 | 6 | HILLSBOROUGH, CA | — |
| 48 | SHIFFMAN, GARY | $10,500 | 2 | WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI | — |
| 49 | SMITH, ROBERT H | $10,421 | 37 | WASHINGTON, DC | — |
| 50 | STAHL, JACK | $10,350 | 6 | ALBUQUERQUE, NM | — |
Top Recipients in 2012
| # | Committee | Total | Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C00147686 | $423,300 | 25 |
| 2 | C00518282 | $188,308 | 151 |
| 3 | C00494740 | $170,013 | 101 |
| 4 | C00385773 | $147,550 | 32 |
| 5 | C00401224 | $122,652 | 121 |
| 6 | C00431445 | $100,648 | 224 |
| 7 | C00010603 | $89,223 | 27 |
| 8 | C00494583 | $80,595 | 10 |
| 9 | C00432260 | $71,850 | 28 |
| 10 | C00451153 | $60,800 | 32 |
| 11 | C00027466 | $52,791 | 21 |
| 12 | C00509893 | $50,000 | 1 |
| 13 | C00413914 | $47,000 | 11 |
| 14 | C00517326 | $43,132 | 57 |
| 15 | C00431171 | $38,772 | 70 |
| 16 | C00247403 | $37,700 | 30 |
| 17 | C00502666 | $37,000 | 17 |
| 18 | C00500843 | $36,100 | 41 |
| 19 | C00478354 | $33,750 | 3 |
| 20 | C00484535 | $30,250 | 37 |
| 21 | C00496497 | $29,825 | 19 |
| 22 | C00499103 | $28,580 | 31 |
| 23 | C00000935 | $26,214 | 40 |
| 24 | C00495010 | $25,650 | 24 |
| 25 | C00506022 | $25,350 | 17 |