The Rich Control Congress

A new report from OpenSecrets.org, “Outside money, inside influence: How national donors shaped the 2024 congressional elections,” demonstrates that the rich are dominant in funding Congressional and Senatorial races. This is a continuation of their class war.

Here are a few highlights:

• Local money hits near-historic lows: In 2024, only 17.6% of itemized donations to House campaigns came from inside the district, and just 27.5% for Senate candidates from in-state donors. This marks the second-lowest level of local fundraising ever recorded, just above the 2020 cycle.
• Small states rely most on outside donors: Candidates in states like Delaware (93.9% out-of-district for House), Vermont (92.1% House, 92.6% Senate), and Wyoming (89.3% House, 92.5% Senate) saw the highest percentages of non-local contributions.
• Positions of power attract non-local money: Top congressional leaders in both chambers overwhelmingly relied on funding from sources beyond their districts and states.
• Non-local money often correlates with wins: Among the 50 general election campaigns in each chamber that relied most heavily on non-local donations, 82% of House candidates and 58% of Senate candidates won their races.

For a podcast introduction to this topic, listen to: Glass, Ira. “Take the Money and Run for Office.” This American Life. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/461/take-the-money-and-run-for-office. Its from 2012, but still very much on target.

The rich are conducting class warfare. They are winning.