In resuming donations, all four of the PACs, sponsored by Travelers, Liberty Mutual, State Farm and Allstate, avoided donating to House of Representatives members who voted not to certify the election on January 6, even if they’d helped them before.
On the day of that vote, a mob of irate Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.
Following the suspension of their donations, the four PACs resumed contributions to the campaigns of congress members from both parties, though donations are tilting somewhat toward Democrats, who hold the majority in both the House and the Senate.
Travelers
The Pac funded by Travelers was the first to resume donations, sending $2,500 on 25 February to the campaign of Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the Democratic majority leader and number two in the House of Representatives, according to filings submitted to the Federal Elections Commission.
In March, April and May, the Pac donated to 26 other state and federal campaigns, with 11 checks going to mostly Democratic House members who sit on the Financial Services, Budget and Appropriations and Ways and Means committees.
Only one Republican, Michigan’s Bill Huizenga, who sits on the Financial Services Committee, got a donation, of $2,000.
The company said on January 21 that it was “not making any contributions through our political action committee in the near term, and we will continue to assess how we approach future political donations.”
In total, Travelers donated $32,874 to campaigns and other Pacs since the start of the year.
That’s just over half the $60,500 donated to federal candidates in the first five months of 2020, a federal election year. About 45% of Travelers’ 2020 total donations through May went to PACs supporting both parties.
Donations to individual candidates were evenly split across party lines, and like this year, were concentrated on party leaders and members of the Financial Services and Appropriations committees.
Travelers did not comment on the decision to resume donations.
Allstate
Allstate’s Pac was next to reactivate donations, writing 19 checks to member of Congress on March 31, including $2,500 for Hoyer, along with a $5,000 check to the Congressional Black Caucus Pac.
Like Travelers, Allstate donated to multiple members of the House Financial Services Committee, along with members of the Appropriations, Small Business and Transportation and Infrastructure committees across both parties.
The company said in January it had “suspended contributions to lawmakers who objected to the counting of Electoral College votes from the 2020 presidential election, because these actions did not align with the committee’s commitment to bipartisanship, collaboration and compromise.”
It added: “The committee will monitor and measure each lawmaker’s ongoing conduct against revised contribution criteria to determine reinstatement.”
None of the recipients of the $103,062 that Allstate donated from May 31 onwards voted against the election certification.
The total this year compares with $137,750 in the first five months of 2020, which was also roughly evenly split between the two parties. About half of the difference last year was a $15,000 donation to the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). No donation was made to NRCC this year.
Allstate did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the resumption of funding.
State Farm
State Farm resumed its donations on April 20, after stating on January 12 that, “In light of recent events, the State Farm Federal Pac made a decision to suspend all contributions. The Pac will continue to evaluate this decision and re-examine the process used to support candidates.”
Through 31 May, the company donated $36,000, a little more than a third of the $98,500 it donated in the same period last year. The donations so far this year tilt toward House Democrats over Republicans nearly two-to-one, whereas the 2020 donations were more evenly split.
Like the other companies, it mainly targets members of the Financial Services, Ways and Means and Appropriations committees.
None of this year’s recipients voted against certifying the election, whereas at least three candidates State Farm supported in 2020 did so.
State Farm said in a statement: “Support for a candidate is not based on a single issue but a holistic approach… we seek to work with candidates from all walks of life who share our business views.
“The SFF PAC will continue to take an intentional holistic approach to all decisions regarding candidate support and will continue to monitor all candidates going forward.”
Liberty Mutual
Liberty Mutual, which in January said it was suspending donations for the first quarter, then made its first donation for the year on May 12.
Liberty’s PAC donated $31,500, through the end of May, to 12 members of the House and one senator, none of whom voted against election certification. That’s a fraction of the $119,500 it contributed during the first five months of 2020.
Most of the recipients this year sit on Financial Services, Appropriations or Ways and Means, and several also received donations from the other carriers. Like its peers, Liberty donated to more Democrats than Republicans so far this year, whereas last year donations were more evenly split between the two.
At least 11 members of Congress who voted not to certify the election received Liberty donations last year, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
The company did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
