John R. Curtis
Senator · R-UT
OverviewMoney & Influence
66% of Curtis's money comes from outside UT.
The majority of funding comes from donors who cannot vote for this member.
$2.1M raised$1525 avg donation34% from UT3 former staff → lobbyists
Key Findings
34% of PAC money comes from industries this member's committee regulates
A significant share of funding comes from industries directly affected by this member's legislative authority.
66% of donations come from outside UT
More than half of funding comes from out-of-state donors.
3 former staff now work as lobbyists
Former employees have transitioned to the lobbying industry.
72% 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 — John R. Curtis'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
Energy is the largest PAC sector at $616K from 347 PACs.
Industry PACs
$1.5MWhich sectors fund this member
Leadership PACs
$1.5MHow much power this member brokers
Sock It To 'em Pac
Raised: $623KSpent: $610K
Sock It To 'em Pac
Raised: $622KSpent: $372K
Utah First Pac
Raised: $149KSpent: $125K
Utah First Pac
Raised: $86KSpent: $56K
Utah First Pac
Raised: $43KSpent: $35K
Top Individual Donors
$2.7MNamed people writing checks
UT · 1x
Steel, Shawn↗$27K
CA · Steel & Eisner, Llp · 4xWeiner, Kane↗$22K
TX · Texas Crude Energy, Llc · 5xFrank, Jim↗$20K
IL · 2fillc · 6xArnold, Laura↗$17K
TX · Homemaker · 5xCrotty, Thomas↗$17K
AZ · 4x
Curtis
Commerce, Science, and Transportation, Environment and Public Works
Votes Cast by Policy Area
Congress
647
Economics and Public Finance
634
Armed Forces and National Security
371
International Affairs
275
Government Operations and Politics
233
Finance and Financial Sector
173
The Revolving Door
Ryan W. Leavitt — deputy chief of staff → Barker Leavitt, Pllc (ska Mr. James C. Barker); Barker Leavitt, Pllc (ska Mr. James C. Barker); Mr. James C. Barker↗(109 filings)
William M. Cunningham — paid intern - house program → Match Group, Inc.; Ameresco; Ameresco↗(39 filings)
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.