Which candidates are wirehouses, IBDs and other firms backing in the midterms?

As the midterm election season reaches its final tense stages, wealth management firms, industry organizations and companies from supporting sectors have already made nearly $20 million in campaign contributions through political action committees. 

A few have spent the maximum allowed for several dozen candidates or officeholders. Others have stayed out of PAC contributions entirely, avoiding politics or employing other means of donations. 

Some firms support one party over another, while others are careful to give almost equally to Democrats and Republicans. Their outlays carry the potential to have long-lasting consequences for the firms, as well as the country.

“It’s very common for PAC contributions to facilitate lobbying,” says Brendan Fischer of the ethics and campaign finance watchdog group the Campaign Legal Center. “That’s a way of ensuring that a phone call is returned or a request for a meeting is honored. Often times lobbying and PAC contributions go hand in hand.”

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