Subject: Military Donors Rallied Late for Romney, But Obama Held Advantage - OpenSecrets Blog
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Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 16:17:28 -0500

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http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/12/military-donors.html

Military Donors Rallied Late for Romney, But Obama Held Advantage

Mitt Romney won a small battle over military donors in his campaign's final weeks, but he still lost the war. 

Throughout the 2012 presidential campaign, Barack Obama consistently received more financial backing from military donors than his GOP challenger, but Romney bested the president in the final weeks leading up to Election Day. 

Overall in the election cycle, Obama received about $947,000 from retired and active military donors -- about $194,000 more than Romney -- but after Oct. 1, Romney had an advantage of nearly $83,000. He raised about $287,000 from the military in that time, compared with Obama's $205,000.

All figures are based on campaign contributions of $200 or more, for which the Federal Election Commission requires the disclosure of donors' identifying data, including occupations and employers. Research by the Center for Responsive Politics identified military and civilian donors employed by the armed forces based on filings with the FEC. 

Below is a table of contributions from military and civilian employees of the armed forces for the 2012 election cycle. Contributions listed as "US Military" are from donors who did not specify for which sector they work. 

  Donor	 Barack Obama  
 Mitt Romney  
  Ron Paul
Defense Acquisition University	$0	$3,100	$0
National Defense University	$1,550	$1,000	$0
National Guard	$12,995	$16,599	$16,132
Nato	$1,750	$0	$0
US Air Force	$112,250	$137,664	$88,102
US Armed Forces	$0	$200	$0
US Army	$268,525	$204,426	$113,933
US Coast Guard	$18,222	$8,400	$13,819
US Dept of Defense	$283,068	$178,527	$39,500
US Marine Corps	$20,668	$37,276	$30,708
US Military	$3,812	$6,191	$2,755
US Navy	$150,076	$103,155	$91,100
Retired Military	$74,422	$57,153	$5,284
Total	$947,338	$753,691	$401,333

For Romney, the Army pulled through as his top military contributor overall with $204,000, and it was responsible for almost $76,000 he raised after Oct. 1. He also received five-figure contributions from the Department of Defense ($62,000), the Air Force ($50,000) and the Navy ($46,000) in that time period.

Although Obama's top military supporter was the Department of Defense, its donors gave him slightly less than they gave Romney after Oct. 1. The president finished with a total of $283,000 from the Department of Defense, receiving nearly $62,000 in the final weeks. 

The Army wasn't far behind for Obama, giving its commander-in-chief almost $61,000 after Oct. 1 for a total of $269,000 for the election cycle. Other top donors for Obama's late fundraising included the Navy, with $35,000, and the Air Force, with about $25,000. 

It's the same story all around for donors who identified themselves as retired members of the armed forces. After October, retired military members gave Romney about $19,000 more than Obama, but the president came out on top overall in the election cycle with $74,000 compared to his GOP opponent's $57,000. 

Retired members of the Army were the most generous retirees for both candidates, giving Obama about $25,000 and Romney $24,000. 

Through the debates and as each campaign tried to build last-minute momentum headed into Election Day, Obama stuck to his plan for cutting billions of dollars from military spending to help balance the federal budget. Romney, on the other hand, hoped to increase that spending by trillions, if elected. 

Throughout the election cycle -- in addition to the hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Department of Defense and the Army -- Obama raised $150,000 from the Navy and $112,000 from the Air Force. By comparison, the Navy gave Romney $103,000 and the Air Force chipped in $138,000. The Department of Defense also backed him with $179,000 -- about $105,000 less than what it gave Obama. 

Former Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul was once the front-runner for military donations as he defended his position on bringing troops home. Although he continued to receive financial support after Romney became the leading GOP candidate, much of his support shifted in Obama's favor. 

Paul finished the 2012 election cycle raising $401,000 from the military, and the Army was his top contributor with $114,000 followed by the Navy with $91,000. 

In terms of fundraising totals for the entire election, Obama raised about $715 million from individuals to Romney's $446 million, and each candidates' military contributions accounted for less than 1 percent of his total raised. 

Image: Barack Obama and Mitt Romney via flickr user Stijn Vogels.