How much have Target, Amazon, Walmart and Kroger donated via corporate PACs and super PACs since 2020?
Executive summary
Corporate PAC disclosures in the public record show a wide gap between retailers: Walmart’s employer-connected PAC activity is by far the largest documented in the sourced material, Target’s PAC activity is mid-sized, Kroger’s is comparatively small, and the provided reporting contains no verifiable corporate PAC or super PAC totals for Amazon (reporting gap flagged). Walmart’s PAC raised $2.87 million in the 2019–2020 cycle, Target’s PAC raised $640,849 in 2021–2022, and Kroger Co.’s PAC raised $148,960 in the 2019–2020 cycle; additional 2024 reporting mixes corporate PAC gifts with family and outside super PAC contributions, complicating exact “since 2020” tallies [1] [2] [3] [4].
1. The question being asked — “How much since 2020?” and what counts
The user’s request targets money funneled through corporate political action committees and super PACs tied to four retailers since 2020, which requires parsing election cycles and distinguishing corporate PAC receipts/spending from independent expenditures by super PACs and wealthy family members; the available sources report PAC totals by election cycle (e.g., 2019–2020, 2021–2022) and spot reporting on 2024 flows, so a precise calendar‑year aggregate “since 2020” is not uniformly available across the sources and must be inferred cautiously [1] [2] [3] [4].
2. Walmart — by far the largest documented corporate PAC activity in the sources
OpenSecrets records show Walmart Inc.’s PAC raised $2,874,596 in the 2019–2020 election cycle, making Walmart the largest documented PAC raiser among the companies in the supplied reporting for that cycle [1]. Independent reporting and watchdog analyses add that Walmart‑related money in later cycles included substantial flows to party and issue organizations and that the Walton family also supplied very large sums to outside conservative groups and super PACs — for example, Jim Walton and Alice Walton were reported as donating $10 million and $5 million respectively in a recent cycle — which further amplifies Walmart‑associated political influence beyond the corporate PAC itself [5]. Reuters also noted Walmart PAC donations of at least $441,500 to Democrats in a 2024 cycle snapshot, illustrating that party direction can vary by recipient and cycle [4].
3. Target — mid-sized PAC activity, controversy, and partisan detail
Target Corp.’s PAC is smaller than Walmart’s but still consequential: OpenSecrets lists Target Corp. as having raised $640,849 in the 2021–2022 cycle [2]. Newsweek and OpenSecrets coverage of Target’s more recent giving pointed to roughly $424,000 in political donations in a year and detailed that Target’s PAC gave $249,900 to Republican candidates in 2022, highlighting that even companies with consumer‑facing brand controversies can steer PAC dollars in ways that attract public scrutiny [6] [2].
4. Kroger — modest PAC sums but active in the 2024 debate
Kroger Co.’s PAC raised $148,960 in the 2019–2020 election cycle, per its OpenSecrets profile, making its corporate PAC activity much smaller than Walmart’s or Target’s in that period [3]. Reuters’ 2024 analysis grouped Kroger and Albertsons PACs together and reported that through June 2024 congressional donations from those grocery PACs totaled $185,000 to Democrats across 65 Democrats’ committees and that Kroger/Albertsons combined donations that cycle were more weighted to Republicans (58% to Republicans), showing Kroger’s PAC remains active in congressional influence battles even if the dollar totals are lower than the largest retail players [4].
5. Amazon — absence of verifiable PAC/super PAC totals in the provided reporting
The supplied sources do