Maria Cantwell
Senator · D-WA
OverviewMoney & Influence
61% of Cantwell's money comes from outside WA.
The majority of funding comes from donors who cannot vote for this member.
$271K raised$440 avg donation39% from WA
Key Findings
61% of donations come from outside WA
More than half of funding comes from out-of-state donors.
17% of PAC money comes from regulated industries
Some funding comes from industries within this member's committee jurisdiction.
62% of money comes from large donors (>$1,000)
A significant share of funding comes from major individual donors.
No revolving door connections detected
No former staff were matched to registered lobbyists.
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 — Maria Cantwell'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
Top individual donor: Conway, Ronald from CA ($14K). Education is the largest PAC sector at $44K from 10 PACs.
Industry PACs
$127KWhich sectors fund this member
Leadership PACs
$0How much power this member brokers
No leadership PACs on record.
Top Individual Donors
$9.3MNamed people writing checks
Conway, Ronald↗$14K
CA · Sv Angel Llc · 4xConway, Gayle↗$14K
CA · Not Employed · 4xSac Fox Tribe↗$10K
IA · 3xLarsen, Dinah↗$10K
OR · 8xBarron, Thomas↗$10K
CO · Author · 3xWilliams, John↗$10K
TX · Williams Hart & Boundas Law Firm · 3x
Cantwell
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Energy and Natural Resources
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
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.