A week ago, voters elected a new Senate majority. In key Senate races across the country, voters made their choice on which candidates supported their values. What most people don’t know is corporations did the same.
For all the post-election analysis involving mega donors such as the Koch brothers or liberal Tom Steyer, labor union get out the vote efforts, or shadowy organizations’ barrage of ads, not much attention has been given to hundreds of corporations’ outright support of one candidate over another in the 2014 midterm election.
2nd Vote’s research team compiled a sample of direct corporate PAC contributions for races that decided which party would hold the majority in the Senate. The next time consumers are contemplating where to spend their hard-earned money, they might want to take into consideration the following corporations and their support of candidates.
- In Alaska, fast food restaurant Wendy’s financially supported Republican candidate Dan Sullivan in Alaska, while McDonalds backed Democrat Begich.
- Arkansas headquartered Wal-Mart supported the status quo in their home state by contributing to incumbent [mc_name name=’Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’P000590′ ]’s campaign.
- Sierra Nevada and Miller brewing company both tapped the Democrat [mc_name name=’Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’U000038′ ] as their choice in Colorado.
- L Brands, which includes Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, and Pink gave to Republican Scott Brown in New Hampshire.
- John Deere supported Republicans Joni Ernst in Iowa, Thom Tillis in North Carolina, and [mc_name name=’Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’M000355′ ] in Kentucky.
- Bloomin Brands (Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Fleming’s Steakhouse) also backed Republicans [mc_name name=’Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR)’ chamber=’house’ mcid=’C001095′ ] in Arkansas, Tillis in North Carolina, and McConnell in Kentucky.
- Google contributed to both New Hampshire Democrat Shaheen and Louisiana Democrat [mc_name name=’Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’L000550′ ].
2nd Vote is consistently digging through data on corporate contributions and ties to politically or ideologically driven organizations and we’ll continue to update consumers on the choices these companies make.
Last week, voters had one day to transform their values into policy by casting a vote on those values. However, those same voters have an opportunity to vote with their wallets every day this week and every week of the year. Ultimately, a corporation is beholden to the dollars its customers will spend; a fact they should keep in mind when they consider where those dollars will go politically.
Chris Walker is the Executive Director of 2nd Vote, a conservative shopper app. To find out more, download the free app or visit 2ndVote.com.