Insurance Dollars Influence Western Legislators

Congressional candidates from the Western states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming pulled in donations from a variety of insurance industry interests in 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group that tracks contributions in U.S. political elections.

Incumbent Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., was the winner in donations from the insurance industry in the West, receiving $269,000. He won re-election over Independent Michael Lange, who received $300, and Republican Bob Kelleher, who received no donations from the insurance industry.

Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., came in second in the Western states in insurance industry contributions, with $183,450 in donations. House Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., came in third with $167,201, followed by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who received $120,000 in insurance industry donations.

Western Congressional candidates’ receipts from insurance industry sources paled in comparison to candidates from other regions. Excluding contributions to presidential candidates Sens. John McCain and Barak Obama, donations to Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., topped the charts. Sen. Clinton received $16 million from insurance industry sources, while Sen. Dodd received $824,056.

In the House of Representatives, Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. received the most in insurance industry donations at $361,115, followed by Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., who received $291,798 in insurance industry contributions.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman D-N.M., had the smallest total of insurance contributions of all senators in the West at $1,500. Reps. Barbara Lee and Maxine Waters, both Democrats from California, tied for the lowest total for House candidates in the West. Each received $500. Nationally, the total contribution from insurance industry sources came to $38.2 million.

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