President Donald Trump has repeatedly taken aim at Amazon AMZN, -0.38% but here’s something the president may not be aware of: Amazon workers and the people linked to them appear to be donating to GOP candidates like never before.
Republicans have received almost $820,000 so far this year from Amazon workers, their spouses and/or dependents, up more than 90% from the almost $425,000 they donated to the GOP in 2016, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ database.
They are, however, still donating more to Democrats, with approximately $1.25 million going to Democratic candidates and parties.
In fact, contributions from Amazon “affiliates” — the name CRP gives to Amazon workers themselves, their non-working spouses or dependents — over the years have historically leaned, sometimes heavily so, to Democrats, the CRP data show.
But that divide looks to be narrowing, even in an election cycle where some observers are predicting a “blue wave” of Democrat victory.
Amazon workers’ total political contributions leapt this year. They’ve given a total of $12.2 million this year, compared to $1.7 million in 2016.
Most of that surge is due to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ own $10 million donation to a super PAC, With Honor Fund, which is gunning to get military veterans elected. The PAC is supporting both Democrats and Republican candidates in their House of Representatives bids.
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An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment on worker and family member donations.
Karen Sebold, a professor at the University of Arkansas specializing in campaign finance matters, said she wasn’t surprised by the jump in donations to Republicans. The party now controls Congress, the presidency and has large presences in state legislatures and governors’ offices, she noted.
“Amazon, like most other corporations, is likely to give to both sides of the aisle and attempt to curry favor with the majority party,” she said. “Given the approach by the current national government to push net neutral policies and reign in free trade, I am not surprised that Amazon is giving more in recent years to the candidates that may determine their financial growth and longevity.”
President Trump has lashed out at Amazon in the past
Trump has griped about Amazon, claiming the company pays “little to no taxes to state & local governments” and got the upper hand in a U.S. Postal System deal to deliver goods and has been “putting many thousands of retailers out of business!”
One anonymous source said the businessman turned commander-in-chief is reportedly “obsessed” with knocking down Bezos, the world’s richest man, down a couple pegs.
Amazon and Bezos have their critics on the left too. Last month, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont unveiled the BEZOS act to tax companies on the federal benefits their workers use on things like food stamps and housing subsidies.
But Sanders credited Bezos this month for increasing workers’ minimum wage to $15 per hour, calling it “a shot heard around the world.”
Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, sent a letter to Amazon on Tuesday “to express our alarm” over a video sent to managers at Whole Foods, the upscale organic grocery business it acquired last year. The progressive pair said the video “expresses explicit opposition to union organizing.”
Amazon responded in a statement that it respected worker rights to organize and followed all employment laws including the National Labor Relations Act.
During the 2016 presidential elections, Amazon workers and family members contributed more than $100,000 to Sanders’ primary bid, but more than $400,000 to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Meanwhile, workers and family donated $5,502 to Trump in the same timeframe.
Senator Maria Cantwell, a Democrat from Washington, is the top recipient so far in the 2018, raking in more than $46,000 from Amazon workers and their family members, the Center for Responsive Politics said.
The first Republican on the recipients list is Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican from Utah, coming in at No. 10. He’s received $15,700 from Amazon workers and the people linked them.
Amazon’s PAC has donated $1 million to federal candidates
The company’s own political action committee has donated just over $1 million to federal candidates, as of data from last month: 52% of the money has gone to Republicans, while 48% has gone to Democrats, the records show.
The PAC’s spending has increased greatly from 2014 when the committee dished out around $150,000, with 51% going to Democrats and 49% going to Republicans.
Professor Michael Malbin, executive director of the non-partisan Campaign Finance Institute, said Amazon’s PAC was “pretty bi-partisan,” like most corporate PACs. “That’s because most corporate PACs are giving to maintain access to incumbents,” he said.
In fact, Amazon PAC spending doesn’t come close to the top spenders, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The PAC for defense contractor Northrop Grumman NOC, -0.17% has spent $2.6 million between this year and last year, with 58% of the donations going to Republican candidates. A company representative did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
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