By E.A. Crunden@eacrunden, WasteDive
The waste management sector donated at least $4,597,433 to federal candidates, parties and outside groups in 2020 — the vast majority of which went to Republicans. That contrasts to wider trends in other sectors of donating to Democratic entities and candidates, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).
Approximately 78% ($3,151,719) of donations went to Republicans, while 22% ($876,435) went to Democrats. Of those, 84% came from individual donors and 3% came from PACs. The remaining 12% are “soft money” donations, according to CRP, which pulls data directly from Federal Election Commission (FEC) disclosures.
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Waste management sector PACs donated more than $145,000 to candidates during the 2020 cycle as of Oct. 23, including political action committees for Waste Management, Republic Services and the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA), according to CRP. An estimated 63% of these PAC donations have gone to Republicans.
NWRA has recently donated to GOP senators facing tough races in states like Colorado, Maine and North Carolina, along with other House and Senate candidates. Waste Management has donated to candidates ranging from the municipal and state level to numerous federal races in the House and Senate. Donations to competitive Senate races include a Democratic candidate in Alabama and Republican candidates in Alaska and Texas. Republic has also donated to state and federal-level races, including a GOP senator facing a challenging race in Arizona. Donations have also gone to federal candidates in relevant committee positions that are either not up for re-election this year or not in close races.
None of the top PAC donations have been to President Donald Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden, although the CEOs of Waste Management and Republic have made personal donations to Trump.
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