Republican lawmakers who supported President Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election are being forced to find alternative methods of funding their campaigns as corporations stick to their promises and refuse to donate to these Republicans. The GOP has recognized grassroots fundraising as a high priority for the 2022 election with corporate donors choosing to keep their distance. The strategy seems to be working quite well.
Corporate donors stick to their promises
Dozens of companies publicly proclaimed early in 2021 that they would not be donating to Republicans they supported in the past who had embraced Trump’s questioning of the 2020 election.
They have stuck to that pledge, but many have gone further and have increased donations to Republicans who accepted Biden’s victory.
The situation is a test of how much power money has in American politics today; candidates will have to survive reelection battles with only small donations from voters.
For the most part they are adapting rather well; the GOP as a whole has kept up with the Democrats in fundraising and individual candidates have raised sufficient funds with minimal corporate support.
Republicans are likely aware that this is as good a year as any if they have to turn away from reliance on corporate donations. The GOP is expected to have much success in November.
Low approval for President Biden will be the main factor in that success, but the GOP will need to campaign hard to capitalize on that advantage.
Republicans turn to small donations
Some companies have not been as strict as others in sticking to their 2021 promises. Walmart has quietly started to give to candidates it previously disavowed.
Boeing and BAE Systems haven’t scaled back their donations for Republican candidates at all. Defense contractors are still giving freely to the GOP regardless of stances on Biden’s election.
Trump’s expressed desire to avoid new conflicts abroad during his presidency may not have stuck, but the party is clearly moving away from its corporate-friendly past as a result of his influence.
The corporations that are withholding donations from the GOP are the same corporations that donate freely to BLM and other leftist causes.
It would be in the interest of conservative voters for these companies to lose their influence over the lawmakers they elect.
The fact that so many are having success in funding their reelection campaigns with small donations from individual voters will be good news for the constituents whose interests they are supposed to represent.