WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2010 - Wall Street-related political donations are bolstering Republicans' political fortunes this summer as financial interests have suddenly -- and dramatically -- shifted their contributions away from Democrats, who they largely favored last year.
In both the first and second quarters of this year, the broad finance, insurance and real estate sector has favored Republican candidates and committees in its political giving, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis finds. The same holds true for both the more narrow commercial banking and securities and investment industries.
This trend is a notable departure from last year, when the finance, insurance and real estate sector sent more money to federal-level Democrats than Republicans during each quarter, the Center finds. People and political action committees associated with the securities and investment industry favored Democrats as recently as 2009's 4th quarter, while the commercial banking industry favored Democrats as recently as 2009's 1st quarter.
The findings by the Center, which underscore a preliminary analysis from August, indicate an increased frustration with congressional Democrats by Wall Street interests, many of which are still smarting from passage of federal financial reforms they consider onerous.
