Lobbyist political contributions from the District of Columbia

LOBBYIST × DC: both sides of the join

FEC individual receipts list occupation and contributor state. Filtering to LOBBYIST and DC produces $5,593,193. That is about 36% of $15,512,853 nationally, about 32% of 29,384 contributions (9,373), and about 20% of 2,173 donors (438). Dollar and receipt shares sit above donor share, so DC lobbyist-labeled receipts run larger and more repeated, on average, than the national mix for this string.

Average itemized gift in the DC join is about $597 ($5,593,193 / 9,373). Government relations, consultant, and attorney are neighboring labels and are not included. This page is the word LOBBYIST only, as typed.

LOBBYIST nationwide

Two thousand one hundred seventy-three donors used LOBBYIST on receipts totaling $15,512,853 across 29,384 itemized gifts. The LDA definition of lobbying is a different legal regime; FEC occupation text is not an LDA registration check. People who lobby and write another job title are absent from both the national $15,512,853 and the DC $5,593,193.

About 64% of LOBBYIST dollars sit outside DC ($15,512,853 minus $5,593,193). The occupation is not exclusively a District address code even though DC is the largest single-state slice in this join.

Four hundred thirty-eight DC donors

Four hundred thirty-eight DC donors produced 9,373 LOBBYIST-tagged contributions totaling $5,593,193. Contribution count far exceeds donor count, so repeat itemization is the rule. The District of Columbia campaign-finance page places LOBBYIST beside lawyer, government relations, and other DC strings so one advocacy title is not treated as all influence-related giving in the city.

Virginia and Maryland addresses for people who work in Washington will not appear here unless the receipt lists DC. Workplace in the capital and donor state DC are not the same field. The join follows the state on the contribution.

Workplace in Washington and donor state DC diverge for thousands of people in ordinary commuting. Only receipts that list DC enter the $5,593,193. The 2,173 national LOBBYIST donors include everyone who used the word, wherever they live as filed. DC is 438 of those keys, not the occupation’s entire geography.

What a lobbyist label does not prove

The table does not identify clients, issues, or that these personal contributions were made on behalf of an employer. FEC individual receipts are personal as reported. The join does not say DC lobbyists funded DC candidates or that lobbying caused the gifts.

Registration lists (LDA, state lobbyist rolls) are not merged into this aggregate. Use the occupations index for government-relations variants and the ties index for LOBBYIST in other states, including Virginia. Source: FEC.gov individual contribution aggregates; occupation labels are filer-entered.

Related hubs

See Lobbyist donations for the $15,512,853 national series, District of Columbia campaign finance for all DC occupations, the occupations index for related titles, and all FEC ties for other occupation–state joins.

LDA lists and FEC occupation are not the same file

DC LOBBYIST at $5,593,193 from 438 donors and 9,373 gifts is about 36% of $15,512,853 nationally. Virginia’s LOBBYIST join ($4,305,477 from 545 donors) is the suburban-address counterpart. Adding DC and Virginia would still miss Maryland, still mix nothing with LDA registrations, and still omit people who lobby under attorney or government relations. This page stays at DC × LOBBYIST.

Average gift about $597 with 9,373 receipts from 438 people is high-repeat itemization. That can reflect giving across many committees over many reports. It does not identify clients. Personal contributions as reported are not a substitute for LDA contribution or bundling reports.

Four hundred thirty-eight DC donors are about 20% of 2,173 LOBBYIST donors while $5,593,193 is about 36% of $15,512,853. Dollar share above headcount share is the DC signature on this string. Virginia’s join inverts part of that picture with more donors and fewer dollars. Read the two ties as address filters, not as a single capital-region lobbying score.

Questions

How much did DC Lobbyist donors give according to the FEC?

Donors listing occupation LOBBYIST with a District of Columbia address reported $5,593,193 in itemized individual contributions, from 438 donors and 9,373 receipts. That is about 36% of the $15,512,853 recorded nationally under LOBBYIST. The total is not an LDA registration count or a list of every person who lobbies in Washington.

Is this the same as registered federal lobbyists?

No. FEC occupation is free text. LDA registration is a separate filing system. The 2,173 national donors and 438 DC donors are grouped by the string LOBBYIST on contribution receipts. Someone registered under the LDA who wrote consultant or attorney will not appear in these totals.

How large is DC’s share of Lobbyist contributions?

DC is about 36% of dollars ($5,593,193 of $15,512,853), about 32% of contributions (9,373 of 29,384), and about 20% of donors (438 of 2,173). Average itemized gift in the DC join is about $597. Most LOBBYIST money is still attributed to other states.

Did these contributions go to District of Columbia races?

The join filters donor state and occupation, not recipient. A DC-addressed LOBBYIST can give to any FEC-registered committee. The $5,593,193 from 438 donors and 9,373 receipts is not mapped to DC or federal office races on this page.