Which of the two political parties has more money, Democrats or Republicans? Most would rush to say Republicans due to the party’s ideas towards tax and money. In fact, polls have shown about 60 percent of the American people believe Republicans favor the rich. But how true is that? Assignment help can help you write about the issue but read our post first.
Which Party is the Party of the 1 Percent?
First, both parties receive substantial support. Much of it comes from registered voters who make $100K+ annually. However, Democrats actually come out ahead when it comes to fundraising for campaigns. In many cases, Democrats have been able to raise twice as much (or more) in private political contributions. But what about outside of politicians? Does that mean Democrats are the wealthier party? Which American families are wealthier? Republicans or Democrats?
Honestly, it is probably Republicans. When it comes down to it, the richest families in America tend to donate to Republican candidates. Forbes reported out of the 50 richest families in the United States, 28 donate to Republican candidates. Another seven donate to Democrats. Additionally, 15 of the richest families in the U.S. donate to both parties.
Biggest Influencers: Democrats or Republicans?
To understand who influences politics, you can easily find out who the wealthy support. For example, the Walton family, the owners of the retail giant Walmart, has traditionally donated to Republican candidates. Alice Walton, the daughter of Walmart’s founder, hasn’t strayed from that too much. That is, until the 2008 election. In 2008 and 2016 the Walton family donated to Hilary Clinton’s campaign.
She isn’t the only person from a wealthy family to change tradition where politics are concerned either. Many of the younger individuals in America’s richest families have begun to sway from their family’s political associations as well. Below you’ll find the affiliation and overall net worth of the top 10 richest families in America.
America’s Top 10 Richest Families
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- Walton– Republican — The family owns the Walmart corporation. The Walton family fortune is estimated to be about $130 billion.
- Koch– Republican — Businessmen, owners of Koch Industries, a manufacturing company. Koch brothers have a net worth of about $41 billion each ($82 billion together).
- Mars– Republican — Own the Mars candy company. The three children of founder Forrest Mars are worth about $78 billion together.
- Cargill-MacMillan– Republican — The Cargill-MacMillan family owns 90 percent of the largest privately-owned corporation in the U.S. The family, as a whole, is worth about $49 billion.
- Cox– Democrat — The Cox family owns a number of auto consumer sites and services (Kelley Blue Book, AutoTrader.com, etc.). They have an estimated net worth of $41 billion.
- Johnson (S.C. Johnson)– Republican — The Johnson family is known for their cleaning products and hygiene products. They are valued at $30 billion.
- Pritzker– Both — Founders of Hyatt. The family has a combined value of $29 billion in 2017.
- Johnson (Fidelity)– Republican — Overseers at Fidelity, ensuring the cash of millions of Americans. The family has a combined net worth of $28.5 billion.
- Hearst– Republican — The Hearst family owns one of America’s largest media companies. The family is valued at $28 billion.
- Duncan– Republican — The Duncan family works mostly with oil and pipelines. The family is valued at about $21.5 billion.
The Richest Politicians in Congress
Another financial question many voters want to know involves the 116th Congress. Who are the richest politicians in Washington? Are there more Democrats or Republicans who top that list? The answer may surprise you. In fact, the top 10 richest politicians are fairly evenly distributed across the aisle. Furthermore, nearly half the members of Congress are millionaires. Based on reported numbers from May 2019, the median net worth of Congress members is just over $1 million. Listed below are the 10 wealthiest members.
- Senator Rick Scott R – Florida $259.7 million
- Senator Mark Warner D – Virginia $214.1 million
- Rep. Greg Gianforte R – Montana $189.3 million
- Rep. Paul Mitchell R – Michigan $179.6 million
- Senator Mitt Romney R – Utah $174.4 million
- Rep. Vernon Buchanan R – Florida $157.1 million
- Senator Mike Braun R – Indiana $136.8 million
- Rep. Don Beyer D – Virginia $124.9 million
- Rep. Dean Phillips D – Minnesota $123.8 million
- Rep. Nancy Pelosi D – California $114.7 million
Democrats or Republicans: Who Has the Higher Income?
In the end, many people assume Republicans are richer based on these figures. Although, this is only a look at the richest families and politicians in America though. In everyday American households, it seems that Democrats have a higher mean salary. It’s true that many of the wealthiest families in the country are contributing to Republican campaigns. On the contrary, families registered as Democrats have higher annual salaries than Republicans, statistically speaking.
These findings still have some loopholes in them, of course. For instance, the data was collected over the last 40 years or so. Moreover, it is only based on the most recently collected information. As you know, demographics are constantly changing. These figures may have been affected as well. There is also a margin of error with every type of data collection like this. So, what do you think? Who is richer? Democrats or Republicans?
Photo: Odyssey Online
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Jenny Smedra is an avid world traveler, ESL teacher, former archaeologist, and freelance writer. Choosing a life abroad had strengthened her commitment to finding ways to bring people together across language and cultural barriers. While most of her time is dedicated to either working with children, she also enjoys good friends, good food, and new adventures.
Why isn’t Bill Gates in this list? He is a Democrat at 86 billion
And how about Warren Buffett, or Jeff Bezos, or George Soros, or most of the silicon valley tycoons. All Ds.
None of them are politicians. The list is about politicians.
cuz they clearly favor republicans
Sorry I think you are backwards here, they clearly favor the dems and choose to call out republicans.
No, because they’re lying to you.
Because this list is about politicians in office. Bill Gates isn’t a Pol and he doesn’t hold office.
The list is of wealthiest families – not individuals. They include multiple wealthy people and therefore carry influence.
Oh, Bill Gates has no influence?
Bill Gates is a newcomer. Many of these families have been involved in politics for 100 years and more!
Umm I looked at the source you provided and the mean for the republican Side is higher than the mean for the democrat side.
Jeff Bezos actually gives to both parties, but more to Republicans.
Now that’s rather interesting – probably because he found people on both sides to push his corporate agenda!
Are you nuts? Bezos owns the leftwing Washington Post. This whole article is a cherry picking disaster. The Waltons are a divided ownership and no way they are all Republicans. Bezos, Gates, Buffett, and a plethora of other are democrats. Wealth is no long held by industrial titans. Big Tech and Money Manipulations are where individual massive fortunes are made. Think about this. Who makes the most money? The voters that work in strong democrat places like NY, Chicago, Boston, and the entire state of California, Oregon, and Washington St. You can add Colorado also as wealhy leftists have taken over Denver and the ultra elite skiing utopias like Vail and all the rest.
The real question is:
Why do many people listen to republicans that push the idea that democrats want a socialist society if, as this article states, there are more rich Democrat families than Republican families in America? Does a socialist state benefit the rich? Or does slandering democrats, who are less likely to strike back defensively, seem more likely. Bottom line is, who benefits more from lies?
When you buy a part of a politician, you choose someone who already can’t be hurt by helping your cause because your relationship needs to last for generations not just overnight. The current number of large donors who have abandoned the Republican Party since 1/6/21 is really bad for the party.
Lol he owns the Washington post
doesnt matter the truth will always be kept hidden anyhow. The richest people play both sides depending on whats in their best interest in that particular time you’re welcome
This is all apart of divide and conquer
this is f******g insane bias
LOL first off two of the “walton’s” are huge liberals and each kid got the same % of the fortune so your #1 is wrong. Besides your number in value is way low for them.
Alice Walton who owns over 80 billion of the family fortune was a huge Hillary supporter, gave over 350k directly to her campaign
The mars family is so diverse right now you can not even assign a label to them. The most recent death left 28 billion to 4 daughters.
Koch is now owned by two families since the one died. And no one knows what that side of the family is politically since its his wife and daughters. They refused to donate much to Trump instead sticking with republicans in congress
second you left off the “gates family” since there are two of them and a kid and that is only one example of leaving off “families” in your very tilted article. The qualifications of “family” that would include the Koch family would also include several others like Bezos and Gates.
Using Families isn’t right or representative of the truth. The richest 15 people shows that at least 9 are Democrat supporters, including the top 4:
As near as I’ve been able to find:
Top 15 Richest Americans in 2020, according to Forbes (As of 7/24/2020)
1. Jeff Bezos – $179 billion….DEMOCRAT
2. Bill Gates – $111 billion….DEMOCRAT
3. Mark Zuckerberg – $85 billion….DEMOCRAT
4. Warren Buffet – $73.5 billion…DEMOCRAT
5. Larry Ellison – $72 billion…Republican
6. Steve Ballmer – $69 billion…DEMOCRAT
7. Elon Musk – $68 billion…Socially Liberal/Fiscally Conservative per Musk.
8. Larry Page – $67.5 billion….DEMOCRAT
9. Sergey Brin – $65.7 billion….DEMOCRAT
10. Alice Walton – $62.3 billion….DEMOCRAT
11. Jim Walton – $62.1 billion…Republican
12. Rob Walton – $61.8 billion…Republican
13. MacKenzie Scott – $57 billion….DEMOCRAT
14. Michael Bloomberg – $55 billion….DEMOCRAT
15. Charles Koch – $45 billion…Republican
I would think that the wealthy Hollywood elite would be included. Most of whom I believe are Democrats.
More people from cities vote democrat, more urbanized people vote democrat. Urbanized people are more educated, usually live in higher cost of living cities/states, therefore make more money, so this is not surprising.
Read triumph of the city economics of cities…
IRS data shows that Democrats represent 65 percent of taxpayers with a household income of $500,000 or more while 74 percent of taxpayers in Republican districts have household incomes of less than $100,000. This article is misleading. Democrats are also more likely to have a 4 yr bachelor’s degree, while Repubs only high school.