2020 RNC: Banks, lobbyists finance Charlotte convention despite worries of backlash

Thirty-eight million dollars was donated to the host committee for the Republican National Convention in Charlotte, and now there is some idea of where it came from.

While the complete picture won’t be known until campaign disclosures are published later this year, a coalition of local firms, banks, lobbyists and Trump-aligned entities helped put the convention on.

A sign at the Aug. 24 convention listed a handful of donors to the host committee of the convention, including Charlotte-based firms and major lobbying groups. Banks, too, donated, but their participation wasn’t noted there.

Many of the nation’s largest companies were absent from the list, a symbol of how charged political contributions can be in the current political climate.

Yet, not being on the sign didn’t mean they didn’t donate: Some donors did not opt to have their involvement listed at the convention, according to John Lassiter, the former Charlotte city councilman who ran the host committee for the RNC. Still, many large corporations have shied away from donating to political conventions as the American political discourse becomes more acrid and violent.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo both donated to the host committee, but were not listed as sponsors, spokesmen for the banks confirmed. Both have major presences in Charlotte.

Bank of America spokesman Mark Pipitone said that the bank was a sponsor of the RNC and a member of the host committee, as it was for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte in 2012. Bank of America also served as the bank for the host committee, according to federal filings.

Such a limited list of names reflects the current political climate, where any political spending could be toxic to a company, according to Eric Heberlig, a professor at UNC Charlotte who has studied political conventions.

In 2016, firms began to curtail some of their more visible spending, with Wells Fargo, UPS and JPMorgan Chase declining to sponsor the RNC in Cleveland. That trend appears to have continued in 2020.

“A generation ago a corporation could donate and just say it’s part of the process, it’s our civic duty,” Heberlig said. “Now, it’s a side. And saying that you gave to both conventions doesn’t matter to the activists on one side or the other.”

Companies historically gave money to the conventions to get access to the politicians who regulated them, he said. With both conventions limited in scope in 2020, that access was curtailed.

The GOP convention was reduced to just one in-person day in Charlotte, with subsequent days taking place at different locales.

Dark money

Donors to the host committees of national political conventions are not required to be made public prior to the convention — a post-convention report must be filed shortly before the presidential election in November. Lassiter said that’s when the full list of donors will be disclosed.

Some of the companies lacked direct Charlotte connections, but are major financiers of Republicans nationwide. America First Policies, a pro-Trump “dark money” group, gave $2 million to the host committee, according to the group’s president, Brian Walsh. Walsh said the group chose to be listed “because we were proud to support the great work of the host committee.”

Major lobbying groups also donated.

The American Petroleum Institute, a top oil and gas lobbyist, donated to the committee, as did the National Association of Realtors. API did not respond to questions about its involvement but did say in a statement that it “regularly participates in the democratic process.” NAR did not respond to a request for comment.

Charter Communications was listed as a sponsor, which it said consisted of an investment similar to the one it made for the 2020 DNC in Milwaukee. The internet provider spent $1 million to upgrade network infrastructure in uptown for the convention, according to spokesman Patrick Paterno.

Duke Energy contributed cash to the convention, according to spokesman Neil Nissan, but declined to disclose how much.

For the 2012 DNC, Duke Energy wrote off a $10 million loan it had provided for the event, effectively donating the sum to the convention organizers who had initially pledged to not use corporate money. The utility was part of the bid for the 2020 RNC as well.

Coca-Cola Consolidated, DH Griffin, Dominion Energy, Carolina Power Systems Rental and Carolina CAT Rental Store were also listed as sponsors. None replied to requests for comment. Charlotte Pipe and Foundry donated to the host committee as well, but declined to say how much they gave.

Ahead of the August convention, the host committee, grappling with a much smaller convention than planned, donated $3.2 million in cash and supplies to a dozen non-profits and other organizations in the region. At the time, Lassiter said that the committee had received $50 million in commitments and $38 million in donations. Much of that was already committed to vendors in advance.

This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 6:00 AM.