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Citizens throughout the United States are taking to the polls today for the 2014 midterm elections, and the construction industry is keeping its collective eye on the results.
Among those interested are the industry’s top contributors to candidates, parties and outside groups. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of September 25, $57,509,282 worth of contributions were made from the various members and sectors of the construction industry during the 2013-14 election cycle, and 71 percent of those contributions went to Republicans.
In the building trade unions sector, the Ironworkers Union contributed $1,619,300—88.4 percent going to Democrats and 1.5 to Republicans. The Painters and Allied Trade Unions contributed $1,422,210—85.2 percent to Democrats and 14.8 percent to Republicans.
Overall, Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) was the second-largest contributor in the construction sector and has taken strong initiative to get its members to vote, as evident by its online education resource ABCvotes.com. ABC contributed $1,502,300 during the cycle—96.7 percent of that money going to Republicans and none to Democrats.
The Associated General Contractors, meanwhile, came in with the ninth-most contributions in the sector with $823,409—a 93.2-6.7 percent Republican-Democrat ratio.
ABC Supply was the top contributor in the building materials and equipment segment of the industry with $1,221,500—$1 million of that total going toward the outside group Freedom Partners Action Fund.
The National Association of Home Builders led the way in the sector as a whole with $1,857,650 worth of contributions, 74.6 percent to Republicans and 25.4 percent to Democrats.
