Which grocery chains gave the most to Republican vs. Democratic candidates in the 2020–2024 election cycles?
Executive summary
Major grocery chains and food-industry trade groups skewed toward Republican candidates across the 2020–2024 cycles, though notable exceptions and corporate splits complicate a simple red/blue tally — Kroger and Albertsons’ combined giving favored Republicans this cycle, Walmart’s PAC funneled significant dollars to Democrats, and chains like Publix were heavily Republican in 2024 reporting [1] [2] [3]. Industry-wide PAC and trade-group giving also tilted Republican: several grocery trade groups directed the large majority of their mid-cycle donations to GOP candidates [4] [5].
1. Big-picture patterns: grocery industry and trade groups mostly favored Republicans
Analysis of Federal Election Commission reporting and trade‑group disclosures shows the grocery and broader food-industry apparatus gave a disproportionate share of reported contributions to Republican candidates during the 2020–2024 period; five major grocery trade associations gave roughly $624,708 through mid‑October with about 85% — roughly $541,258 — going to Republican candidates compared with roughly $79,750 to Democrats [4]. Food‑industry corporate giving generally declined in 2024 compared with prior cycles, but the decline was roughly even by party — donations to Democrats fell 46% to $1.8 million while Republican receipts dropped about 42% to $1.5 million in the Food Dive analysis of large food and beverage makers [5].
2. Chain-level snapshots: Kroger and Albertsons leaned Republican, Walmart notable for Democratic receipts
Kroger’s and Albertsons’ PAC activity in 2024 demonstrates a Republican tilt: Reuters reported that 58% of Kroger’s and Albertsons’ combined congressional donations in that cycle went to Republican campaigns, with 65 House Democrats receiving a smaller share of those firms’ contributions while Walmart’s PAC gave at least $441,500 to Democrats by the same mid‑cycle reporting point [1]. Reuters and affiliated reporting framed Kroger/Albertsons as shifting more of their congressional PAC dollars to Republicans even as Democrats publicly criticized supermarket pricing [1] [2].
3. Outliers and exceptions: companies and brands that gave more to Democrats
Not every big food company tracks the GOP trend; specific firms bucked the pattern in 2020 and beyond. Food Dive’s 2020 review found Kraft Heinz doubled its donations to Democratic PACs and candidates in 2020 compared with 2016, rising to $80,500, and some brands and executives have shown more even or Democratic‑leaning personal giving [6]. Reuters and related reporting also flagged companies that direct donations strategically based on committee assignments, facility locations, or issue positions rather than pure partisan preference [1].
4. Regional and company dynamics: Publix and local political muscle
Regional supermarket chains can concentrate influence locally and skew heavily Republican; reporting on Publix’s 2024 cycle showed the Publix associates PAC made numerous gifts to Republican congressional candidates, with the committee donating to at least 28 Republican House campaigns this cycle and making sizable committee and candidate contributions reported in state and federal filings [3]. Localized giving by supermarket PACs can therefore produce stark partisan concentrations even where national totals look more balanced [3].
5. Limits of available reporting and what cannot be asserted
The available reporting provides clear examples and mid‑cycle snapshots but does not deliver a definitive, fully ranked list of every grocery chain’s total 2020–2024 federal and state giving sorted by party across the full period; OpenSecrets and FEC are the authoritative sources for comprehensive totals and were cited for industry summaries but the documents here give selective company snapshots and trade‑group mid‑cycle tallies rather than a single ordered leaderboard [7] [8] [9]. Any precise ranking would require compiling full FEC/OpenSecrets data across both cycles for each chain, including PAC, corporate, and individual employee contributions, which exceed what these specific news excerpts provide [8] [7].