skip navigation
Here's how you know US flag signifying that this is a United States Federal Government website

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

SSL

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

  • Press Release

PAC Financial Activity Increases

August 30, 2006


FEC Home Page

For Immediate Release
August 30, 2006
Contact: Bob Biersack
Ian Stirton
Kelly Huff
George Smaragdis

 

PAC FINANCIAL ACTIVITY INCREASES

WASHINGTON – Federal Political Action Committees raised $773.5 million, spent $656.3 million, and contributed $248.2 million to federal candidates from January 1, 2005, through June 30, 2006, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) summary released today.  This represented a 23% increase in receipts when compared with 2004, while disbursements increased by 27%.  Contributions to candidates were 21% higher than at this point in the 2004 campaign.  These changes were generally consistent with the pattern of growth in PAC activity over the past several election cycles. 

           

PAC Financial Activity – January 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006

No. of Committees

Receipts

Disbursements

Cash on Hand

Contributions to Candidates

Corporate

1,712

$205.5

$188.5

$95.6

$93.7

Labor

299

$153.6

$118.6

$93.8

$38.1

Nonconnected

1,492

$241.1

$212.0

$70.7

$44.2

Trade/Member/Health

950

$158.8

$124.4

$86.6

$66.1

Cooperative

40

$4.3

$3.2

$3.5

$2.4

Corp. Without Stock

108

$10.2

$9.5

$4.9

$3.8

Total

4,601

$773.5

$656.3

$355.1

$248.2

The summary tables provided below also show contributions to candidates broken down by office and party.  Overall, PAC contributions to House candidates increased by 25% over 2004 levels. Contributions to Republican House candidates increased by 26% while contributions to Democratic House candidates increased by 23%. PAC contributions to Senate candidates vary from one election cycle to the next because different states have Senate elections each cycle and because, with only 33 or 34 races each year, the competitiveness of individual races can significantly affect financial activity overall.  During the first 18 months of the 2006 election cycle PAC contributions to all 2006 Senate candidates increased 44% to $60 million.  Contributions to Democrats increased 30% to $25.9 million while contributions to Republicans were up 55% to $33.8 million.

           

PACs at the end of June reported $355.1 million on hand, 20% more than was available at this point in 2004.

In addition to federal receipts and disbursements shown above, some PACs (mostly nonconnected committees) maintain nonfederal accounts and may therefore use a combination of federal and nonfederal funds to pay for activities that may relate to both federal and state or local elections (overhead expenses, etc.). These PACs reported transferring a total of $18.7 million in nonfederal funds (often referred to as "soft money") into their federal accounts to pay a portion of these expenses.  This total was down significantly from the same period in 2004.  The 2006 cycle is the first in which PACs are required to use a minimum of 50% federal funds for administrative and generic expenses.  In earlier cycles this allocation could be based upon the direct contributions PACs made to federal vs. nonfederal candidates.

Nonfederal transfers by PACs through June of the election year:

2006

$18,743,484

2006

$37,962,393

2002

$15,193,847

2000

$11,589,102

1998

$10,255,250

1996

$5,386,892

1994

$5,464,856

1992

$4,703,250

The top 10 committees reporting nonfederal transfers through June 30, 2006:

America Coming Together

$8,711,937

Emily’s List

$4,814,818

Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund

$1,254,177

Democracy for America

$717,939

21st Century Democrats

$645,340

Progressive Majority

$334,025

New York State Laborers’ PAC

$278,733

The Wish List

$271,782

Lincoln Club of San Diego County

$254,102

One America Committee

$226,750

The tables on the following pages provide summaries of PAC financial activity including contributions to federal candidates, and also list the top 50 PACs for 2005-2006 in terms of receipts, contributions to candidates, and cash on hand.

###

Tables

The tables in [HTML] format can be read using your web browser. The [EXCEL] files are workbooks that can be read using Excel from Microsoft.

  • 18 Month PAC Financial Activity (Through June 30 of the Election Year) [EXCEL] [PDF]
  • PAC Contributions 2003-2006 Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
  • Top 50 PAC’s
    • Top 50 PAC’s by Receipts Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 PAC’s by Disbursements Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 PAC’s by Contributions to Candidates Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 PAC’s by Cash on Hand as of June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
  • Top 50 Corporate PAC’s
    • Top 50 Corporate PAC’s by Receipts Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Corporate PAC’s by Disbursements Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Corporate PAC’s by Contributions to Candidates Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Corporate PAC’s by Cash on Hand as of June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
  • Top 50 Labor PAC’s
    • Top 50 Labor PAC’s by Receipts Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Labor PAC’s by Disbursements Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Labor PAC’s by Contributions to Candidates Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Labor PAC’s by Cash on Hand as of June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
  • Top 50 Nonconnected PAC’s
    • Top 50 Nonconnected PAC’s by Receipts Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Nonconnected PAC’s by Disbursements Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Nonconnected PAC’s by Contributions to Candidates Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL][PDF]
    • Top 50 Nonconnected PAC’s by Cash on Hand as of June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
  • Top 50 Trade/Member/Health PAC’s
    • Top 50 Trade/Member/Health PAC’s by Receipts Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Trade/Member/Health PAC’s by Disbursements Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Trade/Member/Health PAC’s by Contributions to Candidates Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Trade/Member/Health PAC’s by Cash on Hand as of June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
  • Top 50 Cooperative PAC’s
    • Top 50 Cooperative PAC’s by Receipts Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Cooperative PAC’s by Disbursements Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Cooperative PAC’s by Contributions to Candidates Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Cooperative PAC’s by Cash on Hand as of June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
  • Top 50 Corporation Without Stock
    • Top 50 Corporation Without Stock PAC’s by Receipts Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Corporation Without Stock PAC’s by Disbursements Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Corporation Without Stock PAC’s by Contributions to Candidates Through June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]
    • Top 50 Corporation Without Stock PAC’s by Cash on Hand as of June 30, 2006 [EXCEL] [PDF]