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List in rank how contribution does each senators mayors presidential campaign get from pharmaceuticals
Executive summary
There is no single “ranked list” in the available reporting that directly orders every U.S. senator, every mayor, and every presidential campaign by how much they each received from the pharmaceutical industry; instead, databases and analyses show patterns, top recipients in slices of time, and aggregated totals — for example, Pharmaceuticals/Health Products PACs gave $16,054,355 to federal candidates in 2024 (OpenSecrets) [1], and a STAT analysis found 72 senators and 302 House members accepted pharma checks ahead of 2020, with the sector giving roughly $14 million that cycle to federal candidates in that dataset [2]. Reporting and academic studies emphasize breadth (many lawmakers receive pharma money) and targeted giving to powerful committees rather than a single simple ranking [3] [4] [5].
1. What the data resources actually provide — slices, not one list
National trackers such as OpenSecrets and KFF/STAT publish recipient-level data and industry summaries but present the information by cycle, by committee or by top recipients rather than one unified ranked list of “every senator, mayor, and presidential campaign” receiving pharma contributions; OpenSecrets publishes industry recipient summaries and PAC totals for cycles [3] [6] and KFF/STAT publish interactive analyses showing how many members accepted pharma checks in particular cycles [2] [7]. Researchers have compiled “top recipient” tables for periods (e.g., 1999–2018) but those are discrete studies, not an all-time ranked ledger [5] [8].
2. Federal-level scale and patterns: breadth, committee targeting, and recent totals
Multiple investigations highlight that pharma giving is both widespread and strategic: STAT found more than two‑thirds of Congress accepted pharma checks in the 2020 cycle and estimated sector giving in those analyses at about $14 million to federal candidates in that period [2]. OpenSecrets reports Pharmaceuticals/Health Products PACs gave $16,054,355 to federal candidates in 2024 [1]. Academic work (1999–2018) documented concentrated receipts: the top 40 congressional recipients got a large share of industry contributions and many top recipients sat on health‑policy committees [5] [8].
3. Who tends to get more — committees and leadership, not ideological pure plays
Multiple sources show the industry floods members who control healthcare policy or are politically powerful. The academic study of 1999–2018 found 39 of the 40 top congressional recipients served on health‑related committees, and reporters note the Finance and Energy & Commerce committees receive special attention [8] [5]. Journalistic pieces point to shopping for influence: KFF and Forbes pieces note lawmakers on Finance or Health committees and Senate leaders received larger sums, sometimes hundreds of thousands over long periods [7] [9].
4. Presidential campaigns and mayors: different dynamics and limited pharma role
For presidential campaigns, the picture is different. Presidential candidates raise money from many industry actors and super PACs; OpenSecrets and the FEC track those flows, but major presidential campaign funding is dominated by super PACs and mega‑donors rather than direct pharma PAC checks alone [10] [11]. STAT and OpenSecrets analyses show pharma PACs give broadly across federal candidates, but the conventional campaign finance infrastructure (super PACs, outside groups) matters more to presidential totals than direct pharma PAC checks [1] [10]. For mayors, local campaign finance systems (public matching, strict limits in cities like NYC or Baltimore) materially reduce or channel private industry influence; studies show presidents funnel federal grants in election years but available sources do not quantify pharma donations to every mayoral campaign [12] [13] [14]. OpenSecrets and state trackers cover state/local giving but the reporting here does not provide a single ranked national mayor list by pharma contributions [15].
5. Methodological caveats you must know before asking for a ranked list
Public donation trackers differ in scope: some count corporate PACs and individual employee donations differently; OpenSecrets counts PACs and individual donors giving $200+ [15]. STAT noted quirks—e.g., aggregated labels can make it appear that a candidate accepted large “pharmaceutical” totals when much of that sum came from rank‑and‑file employees rather than corporate PACs [16]. Academic studies often aggregate long multi‑year periods (1999–2018) and combine PACs, individual contributions, and state filings; those choices change who appears at the top [5] [17].
6. How you can get the ranked list you asked for (practical next steps)
If you want a definitive ranked list, you must pick scope and sources: (a) define timeframe (single cycle vs. all‑time), (b) define donor types (corporate PACs only, PACs+individuals, super PAC spending), and (c) define offices (federal senators only; mayors limited to a set of cities; presidential committees). Then use OpenSecrets’ industry recipient pages and PAC pages for federal candidates [3] [1], STAT/KFF for cycle snapshots and Senate/House breadth [2] [7], and state databases or local campaign finance boards for mayoral data [14] [13]. Available sources do not provide a pre-made, single ranked list across senators, mayors and presidential campaigns without further specification [15] [2].
Sources cited above: OpenSecrets industry pages and PAC filings [3] [1] [6] [15], STAT and KFF analyses [2] [7] [18], academic review and long‑term studies [5] [8], FEC/presidential public funding context [11] [10], and local public finance descriptions where relevant [14] [13].