Politics & Government
Money Talks: Local GOP Supporters Open Their Wallets
While local Democrats still speak louder with their money than Republicans, GOP support may be growing in Capitola-Soquel.
It's no secret that much of Santa Cruz County's population leans left, politically speaking. But when it comes to campaign donations, local Republicans speak loud and clear.
OpenSecrets.org calls itself "the most comprehensive resource for federal campaign contributions" and has compiled many donations made by Capitola and Soquel residents for the 2012 election cycle. Although 77.5 percent of locals voted Democrat in the 2008 Presidential Election, versus just 19.9 percent Republican, campaign donations over the last year show far greater Republican support than those numbers from four years ago.
According to OpenSecrets, since the beginning of 2011, Capitola-Soquel residents have given $58,572 in political donations. Thus far, $36,220 (61.8 percent) of that has gone to Democratic candidates or causes while $22,352 (38.2 percent) has gone to Republicans.
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See how the numbers break down in the chart below.
Recipient Total Donated Party Affiliation Barack Obama $19,170 Democrat Democratic National Committee $10,200 Democrat Sam Farr $3,500 Democrat Mike Honda $1,000 Democrat Democratic Party of Santa Cruz County $600 Democrat Democratic State Central Committee $500 Democrat Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee $350 Democrat Progressives United PAC $250 Democrat Democracy for America $250 Democrat MoveOn.org $200 Democrat Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee $200 Democrat Ron Paul $8,152 Republican Mitt Romney $3,500 Republican Republican National Committee $3,400 Republican Herman Cain $1,500 Republican Dan Lungren $1,000 Republican Jeff Denham $1,000 Republican David Nunes $1,000 Republican National Republican Senatorial Committee $900 Republican Gary Miller $750 Republican National Republican Congressional Committee $400 Republican Michele Bachmann $250 Republican Rick Santorum $250 Republican SarahPAC $250 RepublicanWhat do you make of the donation numbers? Does the stronger-than-usual Republican support surprise you? Or does it reflect Obama's decreased poll numbers over his first term? Tell us in the comments!
Find out what's happening in Capitola-Soquelfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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