Richard Blumenthal
Senator · D-CT
OverviewMoney & Influence
68% of Blumenthal's money comes from outside CT.
The majority of funding comes from donors who cannot vote for this member.
$1.2M raised$148 avg donation32% from CT1 former staff → lobbyists
Key Findings
68% of donations come from outside CT
More than half of funding comes from out-of-state donors.
1 former staff now work as lobbyists
Former employees have transitioned to the lobbying industry.
14% of PAC money comes from regulated industries
Some funding comes from industries within this member's committee jurisdiction.
58% of money comes from large donors (>$1,000)
A significant share of funding comes from major individual donors.
How Does Money Flow Through Congress?
An interactive guide to the influence pipeline
Show ↓
How Does Money Flow Through Congress?
An interactive guide to the influence pipeline
How It Works
The Influence Pipeline
How money flows to — and through — Richard Blumenthal's office.
01
The Company
A corporation wants a law passed or blocked.
02
The PAC
Direct donations are illegal. So employees pool money into a Political Action Committee.
03
The Target
PACs fund members on committees that regulate their industry.
04
⚖️
The Committee
These committees write the laws that affect the donor's business.
07
🗳️
The Vote
Your representative votes — and the pattern is clear.
06
📋
The Lobbying
Those lobbyists push specific bills before their former colleagues.
05
🚪
The Revolving Door
Former staff become lobbyists for the same industries that fund their old boss.
The cycle repeats.
01
The Company
A corporation wants a law passed or blocked.
02
The PAC
Direct donations are illegal. So employees pool money into a Political Action Committee.
03
The Target
PACs fund members on committees that regulate their industry.
04
⚖️
The Committee
These committees write the laws that affect the donor's business.
05
🚪
The Revolving Door
Former staff become lobbyists for the same industries that fund their old boss.
06
📋
The Lobbying
Those lobbyists push specific bills before their former colleagues.
07
🗳️
The Vote
Your representative votes — and the pattern is clear.
The cycle repeats.
Follow the Money
Blumenthal's leadership PAC raised $3.0M — more than individual donors contributed directly. Top individual donor: Hale, Robert from MA ($7K).
Industry PACs
$362KWhich sectors fund this member
Leadership PACs
$3.0MHow much power this member brokers
Nutmeg Pac
Raised: $403KSpent: $438K
Nutmeg Pac
Raised: $623KSpent: $834K
Nutmeg Pac
Raised: $561KSpent: $375K
Nutmeg Pac
Raised: $718KSpent: $613K
Nutmeg Pac
Raised: $742KSpent: $699K
Top Individual Donors
$186KNamed people writing checks
MA · Granite Telecom · 2x
Hale, Karen↗$7K
MA · Not Employed · 2xRoure, Rita↗$7K
CT · Pagny - Lincoln Hospital · 2xChavez, Tom↗$7K
CA · Krux Inc. · 2xAlix, Jay↗$7K
MI · Alix Partners · 2xFL · 2x
Blumenthal
Armed Services, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Votes Cast by Policy Area
Economics and Public Finance
207
International Affairs
83
Armed Forces and National Security
68
Health
35
Transportation and Public Works
35
Taxation
29
The Revolving Door
Deep Dive
How we built this & what it doesn't prove
- • Donor data from FEC filings (9.47M individual contributions)
- • Voting records from Congress.gov roll call data
- • Lobbying data from Senate LDA filings
- • Staff employment from House disbursement records
Correlation between donations and votes does not prove causation. Members may vote in alignment with donors because they share genuine policy beliefs, not because of financial influence. We present the connections — you decide what they mean.