Does the oil and gas industry contribute much more to the GOP than to Democrats?
By Christopher Hutton
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YES
The oil and gas industry has channeled two-thirds of its political contributions to Republicans since 1990, and that pattern has continued in the 2020 election. Federal data compiled by Open Secrets, an independent research group, shows that Donald Trump's campaign had received $1.6 million as of Sept. 21 from industry-related sources, compared with $623,000 given to Joe Biden's. (Both campaigns have raised about $500 billion so far in total.)
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican running for reelection, is the second-largest recipient of support from the industry behind Trump. Only other Democrat, also from Texas, is among its top 20 recipients.
The industry has donated $87 million so far this year, 85% to Republicans.
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