Credit Unions Tilt Blue, Banks Tilt Red for Congress

CUNA and NAFCU have given slightly more to the Democrats, while two major banking groups have tilted Republican, but the credit union difference isn’t as wide as some might think.

CUNA, NAFCU, the American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Independent Community Bankers Association (ICBA) together have given donations to 767 U.S. House and U.S. Senate candidates in the 2022 election cycle.

Of those 767 candidates, 576, or 75% of the candidates, received donations from at least one credit union group and at least one of the banking groups.

The data came from OpenSecrets.org, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides election donation data to the public, much of it at no charge.

For those 576 candidates, CUNA and NAFCU gave 76% of their donations and banks gave 88%. This group consisted of 240 Democrats and 336 Republicans.

Democrats received $886,500 from the credit union groups and $799,000 from banks. Republicans received $1.1 million from CUNA and NAFCU and $1.4 million from banks.

Two examples of consensus were in Nevada and Florida.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) received $7,500 from CUNA, $2,000 from NAFCU and $14,000 from the banking groups. He is running for reelection against U.S. Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) from Orlando. She received $5,000 from CUNA, but none from the banking groups.

U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) has received donations for her reelection from both credit union and banking groups. CUNA gave her $10,000, NAFCU $1,000 and the banking groups $6,000. She is in a tight race with her Republican challenger Adam Laxalt, who has received no donations from the banking or credit union groups.

Trey Hawkins, CUNA’s deputy chief advocacy officer for political action, singled out Cortez Masto as one of the races CUNA has invested heavily in CUNA’s call with the media on Monday.

Hawkins said CUNA and state and regional leagues have contributed more than $6.6 million to pro-credit union candidates in the current election cycle.

That included 398 congressional candidates on the ballot Tuesday who received at least some support from CUNA’s federal political action committee: 367 U.S. House candidates and 31 candidates for the Senate.

“And importantly, it includes 61 open seats, 56 in the house and five in the Senate,” Hawkins said. “We think these are especially important opportunities for credit unions to get in on the ground floor with a potential future champion.”

The OpenSecrets data showed 128 candidates received money from CUNA or NAFCU, but not from the banking groups. The credit union groups gave $510,000 to 105 Democrats, and $113,500 to 23 Republicans.

They included:

• Tim Ryan, the Democrat running for Ohio’s open Senate seat, who received $5,000 from CUNA. His opponent, Republican J.D. Vance, did not receive any donation from the credit union or banking groups.
• U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), who received $5,000 from CUNA for his tight re-election bid against Republican Herschel Walker, who received no donation from the credit union or banking groups.
• U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who received $10,000 from CUNA in her failed attempt to keep her House seat in the Republican primary. The banking groups did not contribute to any candidate in the race.

There were 63 candidates that received donations from the banking groups, but not from the credit union groups. Banks gave only $24,500 to five Democrats, but $274,000 to 58 Republicans. Two examples were:

• U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who received $5,000 from banking groups but none from credit union groups in his reelection bid against Blake Masters, a former investment firm executive endorsed by former president, Donald Trump. Masters received no money from either the banking or credit union groups.
• U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who has received a combined $15,000 from ABA and ICBA in his reelection bid. He is running against Mandela Barnes, a Democrat who is Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor. Barnes received no support from either the banking or credit union groups.

Among all 767 congressional candidates receiving donations from at least one of the four groups, the 350 Democrats received $1.4 million from the credit union groups, accounting for 54% of their donations, and $823,500 from the banking groups, accounting for 32% of their donations.

The 417 Republicans received $1.2 million from the credit union groups, accounting for 46% of their donations, and $1.7 million from the banking groups, accounting for 67% of their donations.