BlackRock’s political action committee contributed a record amount to U.S. political campaigns this election cycle, nearly double its 2020-cycle payments.
The BlackRock PAC has given about $937,000 to congressional candidates, their leadership PACs and political parties between January 2023 and the middle of October, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.
In this cycle, the PAC’s largest contributions went to Democrat and Republican Party leadership groups — two $15,000 contributions each to the National Republican Senate Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
According to nonprofit OpenSecrets, which tracks PAC contributions, the BlackRock PAC this election cycle has donated roughly 51% to Republican candidates and 49% to Democrats.
During the midterm election cycle in 2022, BlackRock’s PAC contributed about $645,000 while in the 2020 cycle, the world's largest asset manager doled out roughly $471,000, FEC filings show.
BlackRock did not respond to a request for comment, but BlackRock Chair and CEO Larry Fink said the firm doesn’t favor one party over the other.
“We work with both parties and our job is to work with the leadership that we have,” Fink said Oct. 21 at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s annual meeting in New York.
Executives contribute to PAC
BlackRock executives contribute to the company's PAC, which then decides which campaigns to support.
This cycle, executives including Fink, Samara Cohen, chief investment officer of BlackRock's ETF and index investments business; Sudhir Nair, senior managing director and global head of Aladdin; Mark Florian, managing director, head of BlackRock Global Infrastructure Funds; and Manish Mehta, senior managing director and head of BlackRock global markets and index investments, have contributed to the PAC, according to FEC filings. Those executives can also contribute to campaigns on their own.
Since January 2023, Fink has contributed $5,000 to the BlackRock PAC and has made several contributions to lawmakers and PACs associated with their campaigns, according to FEC filings.
The largest donation — $11,600 — went to a joint fundraising committee split between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. and congressional Democrats. Fink has made smaller contributions to lawmakers and their PACs, including Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisc., Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., Sen. John Tester, D-Mont., and Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.