Jeff Merkley
Senator · D-OR
OverviewMoney & Influence
$628K raised.
Here's where it came from and where it went.
$628K raised$59 avg donation71% from OR3 former staff → lobbyists
Key Findings
3 former staff now work as lobbyists
Former employees have transitioned to the lobbying industry.
71% of donations come from OR
The majority of funding comes from within the member's home state.
Low committee-donor overlap
PAC funding shows minimal connection to industries regulated by this member's committee.
No stock trades detected
This member has no reported stock transactions during their congressional service.
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 — Jeff Merkley'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
Merkley's leadership PAC raised $8.1M — more than individual donors contributed directly. Healthcare is the largest PAC sector at $85K from 32 PACs.
Industry PACs
$271KWhich sectors fund this member
Leadership PACs
$8.1MHow much power this member brokers
Blue Wave Project
Raised: $227KSpent: $349K
Climate Champions Pac
Raised: $13KSpent: $18K
Blue Senate Pac
Raised: $152KSpent: $345K
Blue Senate Pac
Raised: $1.8MSpent: $1.6M
Blue Wave Project
Raised: $913KSpent: $610K
Top Individual Donors
$2.1MNamed people writing checks
OR · Not Employed · 13x
CA · Physician · 4x
OR · Not Employed · 2x
Foti, Frank↗$7K
WA · The Ground · 2xOR · Not Employed · 2x
Corson, Don↗$7K
OR · Corson & Johnson · 5x
Merkley
Environment and Public Works
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.