The National Institute on Money In State Politics tracks how the flow of money plays in state politics throughout the United States. More specifically, their mission is:
The National Institute on Money in State Politics is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization revealing the influence of campaign money on state-level elections and public policy in all 50 states. Our comprehensive and verifiable campaign-finance database and relevant issue analysis are available for free through our Web site FollowTheMoney.org. We encourage transparency and promote independent investigation of state-level campaign contributions by journalists, academic researchers, public-interest groups, government agencies, policymakers, students and the public at large.
Taking a look at the Michigan Elections from 2008, obtained from FollowTheMoney.Org we can see that the total dollars contributed to candidates: $22,582,236 based on 98% of reports for candidates that were collected. (FollowTheMoney.Org; February 11, 2010)
| Contributor | Total | % of Total | Sector |
|---|---|---|---|
| MICHIGAN BEER & WINE WHOLESALERS ASSOCIATION | $451,223 | 2.00% | General Business |
| MICHIGAN HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CMTE | $444,376 | 1.97% | Party |
| MICHIGAN AUTO WORKERS REGION V | $369,300 | 1.64% | Labor |
| MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS | $306,825 | 1.36% | Finance, Insurance & Real Estate |
| BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF MICHIGAN | $282,615 | 1.25% | Finance, Insurance & Real Estate |
| MICHIGAN FARM BUREAU | $274,300 | 1.21% | Agriculture |
| MICHIGAN AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION | $259,050 | 1.15% | Transportation |
| MICHIGAN EDUCATION ASSOCIATION | $246,515 | 1.09% | Labor |
| MICHIGAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | $232,999 | 1.03% | General Business |
| DTE ENERGY | $188,025 | 0.83% | Energy & Natural Resources |
| MICHIGAN TRIAL LAWYERS ASSOCIATION | $186,450 | 0.83% | Lawyers & Lobbyists |
| MICHIGAN HEALTH & HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION | $183,850 | 0.81% | Health |
| MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY | $178,202 | 0.79% | Party |
| MICHIGAN HOUSE DEMOCRATIC FUND | $171,527 | 0.76% | Party |
| MICHIGAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION | $154,460 | 0.68% | Finance, Insurance & Real Estate |
| DILLON LEADERSHIP FUND | $139,634 | 0.62% | Party |
| OPERATING ENGINEERS LOCAL 324 | $137,935 | 0.61% | Labor |
| MICHIGAN REGIONAL COUNCIL OF CARPENTERS | $119,260 | 0.53% | Labor |
| INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS | $117,180 | 0.52% | Labor |
| HUGHES, HOLLY | $105,773 | 0.47% | Party |
The above report demonstrates the actual contributor, total amount donated to various candidates, percentage of the total amount donated and the sector they are associated with. The below report demonstrates the top 20 industries and their total amounts of campaign money that was shifted towards candidates.
| Top Industries | Total |
|---|---|
| Candidate Self-finance | $1,585,381 |
| Lawyers & Lobbyists | $1,306,240 |
| Party Committees | $1,117,595 |
| Leadership PACs | $912,717 |
| General Trade Unions | $652,049 |
| Insurance | $616,024 |
| Real Estate | $534,337 |
| Transportation Unions | $534,091 |
| Health Professionals | $503,959 |
| Public Sector Unions | $486,552 |
| Beer, Wine & Liquor | $477,950 |
| Automotive | $467,811 |
| Electric Utilities | $377,703 |
| Business Associations | $373,548 |
| Commercial Banks | $323,325 |
A significant amount of data is collected on a state to state basis with automated ways to reorganize the data to connect individuals, candidates, and organizations to issues and campaign financing related matters through the tools made available by The National Institute on Money In State Politics. I certainly thank them for making it freely available and hope that others find it useful as well.