Companies reflected on ‘values’ after Jan. 6. They decided to stick with NC lawmakers.
Corporate donors that said they would pause contributions to lawmakers following the Jan. 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol have resumed giving to at least five of the seven North Carolina Republicans who objected on that day to certifying the election of President Joe Biden.
McClatchy has identified 13 companies whose political action committees gave to the five politicians after first saying that they would reevaluate how lawmakers’ values match the companies’, following the insurrection.
All of the companies said they would temporarily suspend giving.
Starting in late April, some of those 13 companies began giving to House Republicans from North Carolina, including U.S. Reps. Richard Hudson, Virginia Foxx, Greg Murphy, Dan Bishop and David Rouzer.
Along with Reps. Madison Cawthorn and Ted Budd, they all supported an objection to counting Biden’s electoral votes from at least one state. Neither Sen. Thom Tillis and Sen. Richard Burr supported the objections. Rep. Patrick McHenry was the only Republican House member from North Carolina who did not support the objections to Biden’s votes, and he has continued to receive funding from some of the 13 companies.
None of the companies have given to Cawthorn, who spoke at the rally prior to the riot at the Capitol. Cawthorn, though, has not lacked for campaign contributions, reaping the benefits of a strong grassroots following.
Nor did any of the companies donate to Budd. He is running in North Carolina’s 2022 U.S. Senate race and has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, which has brought him substantial fundraising from donors.
Giving to candidates
The 13 companies are Duke Energy, Valero Energy, UPS, Regions Bank, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, UnitedHealthcare, Lockheed Martin, General Motors, Altria Group, Eli Lilly and Company, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
Ten of the 13 companies were first identified in a report released Saturday by Accountable.US, a left-leaning nonprofit and watchdog group with ties to Democrats. McClatchy confirmed those contributions and identified three others.
Together the companies donated $74,500 to the five representatives, with $49,500 going to Hudson, whose fundraising from those companies far exceeded his colleagues. Rouzer trails Hudson with just $13,500, followed by Murphy at $7,000. The rest received $2,500 or less.
Duke Energy and UPS are the largest contributors on the list, each donating $13,500 to four of the five House members.
Duke Energy is the only one on the list headquartered in North Carolina. The power and natural gas company said last January that it would pause contributions for at least a month to review its supported candidates and ensure that those candidates’ “values and actions” align with the company’s.
“The way members of Congress conduct themselves in this critical time will be an important consideration in future support,” the company said then.
Duke Energy spokesman Neil Nissan told McClatchy on Monday night that engaging with policymakers on both sides of the aisle is critical for making progress in the company’s clean energy transformation.
“Our pause on federal political giving allowed us an opportunity to be reflective about a significant and troubling event in our nation, as well as how we support candidates and elected officials,” Nissan told The N&O. “We’ve resumed some contributions. We’ll continue to reinforce the principle that we support public officials who both support policies that enable our ability to deliver clean, affordable and reliable energy, and are an effective voice in the important discussions ahead.”
The company donated to Rouzer, Hudson, Bishop and Murphy, with Hudson and Murphy receiving $5,000 each.
Eli Lilly and Company, an Indiana-based pharmaceutical company, contributed $3,000 to Hudson only, in July and November.
“LillyPAC supports candidates across the political spectrum who understand the value of a vibrant pharmaceutical ecosystem to address unmet patient needs,” said a company spokesperson. “Contributions from LillyPAC will continue to be in line with Lilly’s purpose to make life better.”
Regions Bank gave $1,000 each to Hudson, Rouzer and Bishop.
“Contributions from Regions’ voluntary, employee-funded political action committee are evaluated on an individual basis,” said Kim Borges, spokeswoman for Regions Bank. “The PAC has long supported candidates from both major parties whose policy objectives align with our goal of providing exceptional financial services to the people, businesses and communities we serve.”
Most of the politicians and the other companies did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication. Cawthorn’s staff declined comment.
Impact of the contributions
Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, said that losing donations impacts candidates less than donors.
“I don’t know that it would mean that much to them (the candidates) either way, unless obviously they dip — let’s say they get a loss from everybody,” Cooper said. “That’s just not happening.”
He added that there’s a misconception that money buys votes or that money is donated to make a political opponent a supporter.
Cooper said that the reality is that money tends to be spent on candidates who support a company’s cause and can move a politician from a passive supporter to an active one. He said giving does help buy the companies meetings or attention from lawmakers.
“I think time, information and attention are scarcer commodities than politics and money,” Cooper said.
Cooper said losing a donor like Duke Energy won’t hurt a candidate’s bottom line but it is easier for a candidate to keep a supporter than find a new one.
Bishop made clear that the impact of not giving would be on the business and not the politician when asked about whether his vote had any impact on his fundraising.
“Wise business leaders knew better than to let leftist media hype stampede them into shunning half the electorate,” Bishop told McClatchy in an email Tuesday night. “Others will be in an awkward spot under a new majority.”
Democrats hold a narrow majority in the House, and the party that holds the presidency typically loses seats in midterm elections.
On Jan. 5, 2021, Bishop said he wouldn’t vote to certify the election, accusing Democratic leaders of using the judicial system to “weaken ballot security, undermine positive identification of voters, and provide opportunities for post-election ballot-box stuffing.”
Jonathan Felts, spokesman for Budd’s Senate campaign, said he hasn’t seen a real impact on fundraising due to Budd’s vote.
Felts said he can think of only once when a donor has asked about Budd’s vote and decided against donating money to the campaign. But he added that that person just gave the maximum allowed contribution to Budd last month, one that will be reported in their next campaign finance report. Felts would not comment on who that donor is.
Felts said what has hindered the campaign’s fundraising is large companies not wanting to get in the middle of a tough primary race between Budd and former Gov. Pat McCrory.
“I think that’s had more of an impact with Fortune 500 companies than anything else has,” Felts said.
As for the resumption of giving, Cooper said, it tracks with the change in perception since Jan. 6, 2021.
Cooper called the suspension of giving a smart business move at the time because a company does not want to alienate half of its consumers. He said that’s less of the case in 2022.
“People are less universally against what happened,” Cooper said. “They are less likely than they once were to believe that the rioters on Jan. 6 were violent and they are less likely than they originally were to believe that the Republicans are mostly to blame.”
Cooper said while Democrats have maintained their outrage, the opinions of Republicans and some independents have shifted in the past year.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at link.chtbl.com/underthedomenc or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published January 5, 2022 at 12:11 PM with the headline "Companies reflected on ‘values’ after Jan. 6. They decided to stick with NC lawmakers.."
