With the 2022 General Election quickly approaching, it’s as good a time as ever to examine the political donations I made two years ago, in 2020.
I plan to do the same with my donations for 2022, after the upcoming election is over.
In total, I donated $539.99 to political candidates for races in 2020.
This number includes a donation I made in December 2019 for an election that took place in 2020.
First donation
Before examining my 2020 political donations, I’m going to discuss the only donation I made before the 2020 cycle.
I made my first donation to a political candidate in 2018.
I donated $20 to Dylan Ratigan, a former MSNBC host running in the Democratic primary for the US House in New York’s 21st Congressional District.
Ratigan finished third in the primary, with 12% of the vote.
Tedra Cobb won the primary with 56%.
Cobb went on to lose the general election to incumbent Republican Elise Stefanik.
Kansas candidates
In 2020, I donated to four political candidates in Kansas, my home state.
None of them won their elections.
I donated $103.87 to Barbara Bollier.
I donated more to Bollier in 2020 than I donated to any other individual candidate.
Bollier received 19%, or almost a fifth, of my political donations in 2020.
Bollier (D) ran for US Senate in Kansas against Roger Marshall (R).
They were running for an open senate seat, because Pat Roberts (R) chose not to run for reelection.
Marshall won the election by a margin of 11%.
He received 53% of the vote, and Bollier received 42%.
I donated $62.30 to Kali Barnett.
Barnett (D) ran for the US House in the Kansas First Congressional District against Tracey Mann (R).
They were running for an open seat, because Roger Marshall chose to run in the US Senate race.
Barnett received 12% of my political donations in 2020.
The election was an absolute blowout. Mann won by a margin of 42%.
Mann received 71% of the vote, and Barnett received 29%.
I donated $35 to Randy Hardy.
Hardy (R) ran in the Republican primary for the 24th Kansas State Senate district. The winner of the race would serve in the upper chamber of the Kansas Legislature.
Hardy, a moderate Republican, ran against JR Claeys, a conservative Republican. Hardy was the incumbent.
Hardy received the only donation I made to a Republican candidate in 2020.
Hardy also received the only donation I made in a State Senate race in 2020.
Claeys won the primary by a margin of 25%.
Claeys received 62% of the vote, and Hardy received 38%.
Claeys ran unopposed in the general election.
I donated $34.89 to Michelle De La Isla (D).
De La Isla ran against Jake LaTurner (R) in the US House race in the Kansas Second Congressional District.
In the Republican primary, LaTurner defeated incumbent Steve Watkins by a margin of 15%.
LaTurner received 49%, Watkins received 34%, and Dennis Taylor received 17%.
In the general election, LaTurner won by a margin of 15%.
LaTurner received 55% of the vote, and De La Isla received 41%.
My donations were almost evenly split between Kansas and non-Kansas elections.
I spent $236.06 in Kansas elections. That accounts for 45% of my total donations.
I spent $235.93 in elections to the US House and US Senate outside of Kansas. That accounts for 45% of my total donations.
I spent $58 on presidential candidates. This accounts for 11% of my donations.
Almost all of my donations went to Democrats.
I spent $504.99 on Democratic candidates, including $10 in tips to Act Blue, the organization that processes small-dollar donations for Democrats. That accounts for 94% of my total donations.
My only donation to a Republican candidate was a $35 donation to Randy Hardy. He received 6% of my total donations.
Presidential candidates
I donated a total of $58 to three US presidential candidates in 2020.
During the Democratic primary, I donated $50 to Bernie Sanders and $5 to Elizabeth Warren.
Both lost the Democratic primary to Joe Biden.
Biden received 2,687 delegates, which was more than the 1,991 he needed to win the Democratic nomination.
Sanders came in second place, with 1,073 delegates.
Warren came in third, with 63 delegates.
In September, during the general election, I donated $3 to Biden, who went on to defeat Donald Trump.
Biden won both the popular vote and the electoral college.
Biden received 81 million votes, or 51% of the popular vote.
Trump received 74 million votes, or 47% of the popular vote.
Biden received 306 electoral college votes, more than the 270 he needed to win.
Put another way, Biden received 57% of the electoral college.
Trump received 232 electoral college votes, or 43% of the electoral college.
Trump never conceded that he lost the 2020 presidential election, and as late as July of this year he was still actively trying to overturn the result.
US House
I donated $147.19 in US House races in 2020.
I spent $97.19 on US House races in Kansas, 66% of my total donations in US House races.
I donated $50 to Cenk Uygur, who ran in non-partisan primaries for the US House in California’s 25th Congressional District.
Uygur is a co-founder and one of the hosts of The Young Turks, an online progressive news and public affairs network.
Uygur ran in the primary for the special election to fill the vacancy created by Katie Hill’s (D) resignation.
Uygur also ran in the primary for the regular election for the position. Both primaries were held on March 3, 2020.
Uygur came in fourth place in both primary elections, and did not proceed to the runoff in either race.
US Senate
I donated $289.80 to US Senate races in 2020, including the $103.87 I donated to Barbara Bollier.
Donations in US Senate races accounted for 54% of my donations in 2020.
I donated $185.93 on US Senate races in states other than Kansas, which accounted for 34% of my total donations.
Bollier received 64% of my donations to US Senate candidates. The remaining US Senate candidates received the remaining 36%.
I donated to a total of 14 US Senate candidates, four of whom won their races.
The winning candidates were Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in Georgia, Gary Peters in Michigan, and John Hickenlooper in Colorado.
I donated $34.08 to Jon Ossoff, who ran in the US Senate race in Georgia, which went to a runoff.
I donated $25, or 73% of my total donations to Ossoff, during the runoff.
Ossoff (D) ran against incumbent David Perdue (R).
In the runoff, Ossoff won by a margin of 1.2%.
Ossoff received 50.6%, and Perdue received 49.4%.
I donated $34.06 to Raphael Warnock, who ran in the special US Senate race in Georgia, which also went to a runoff.
I donated $25, or 73% or my total donations to Warnock, during the runoff.
Warnock (D) ran against incumbent Kelly Loeffler (R).
In the runoff, Warnock won by a margin of 2%.
Warnock received 51%, and Loeffler received 49%.
I donated $19.06 to Steve Bullock, who ran in the US Senate race in Montana.
Bullock (D) ran against incumbent Steve Daines (R).
Daines won by a margin of 10%.
Daines received 55%, and Bullock received 45%.
I donated $13.15 to Mike Espy, who ran in the US Senate race in Mississippi.
Espy (D) ran against incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith (R).
Hyde-Smith won by a margin of 10%.
Hyde-Smith received 54%, and Espy received 44%.
I donated $13.06 to Gary Peters, who ran in the US Senate race in Michigan.
Peters (D), the incumbent, ran against John James (R).
Peters won by a margin of 1.7%.
Peters received 49.9%, and James received 48.2%.
I donated $9.07 to Doug Jones, who ran in the US Senate race in Alabama.
Jones (D), the incumbent, ran against Tommy Tuberville (R).
Tuberville won by a margin of 20%.
Tuberville received 60%, and Jones received 40%.
I donated $9.07 to MJ Hegar, who ran in the US Senate race in Texas.
Hegar (D) ran against incumbent John Cornyn (R).
Cornyn won by a margin of 10%.
Cornyn received 54%, and Hegar received 44%.
I donated $9.07 to Alan Gross, who ran in the US Senate race in Alaska.
Gross (D) ran against incumbent Dan Sullivan (R).
Sullivan won by a margin of 13%.
Sullivan received 54%, and Gross received 41%.
I donated $9.07 to Jaime Harrison, who ran in the US Senate race in South Carolina.
Harrison (D) ran against incumbent Lindsey Graham (R).
Graham won by a margin of 10%.
Graham received 55%, and Harrison received 44%.
I donated $9.06 to Sara Gideon, who ran in the US Senate race in Maine.
Gideon (D) ran against incumbent Susan Collins (R).
Collins won by a margin of 9%.
Collins received 51%, and Gideon received 42%.
I donated $9.06 to Theresa Greenfield, who ran in the US Senate race in Iowa.
Greenfield (D) ran against incumbent Joni Ernst (R).
Ernst won by a margin of 7%.
Ernst received 52%, and Greenfield received 45%.
I donated $9.06 to John Hickenlooper, who ran in the US Senate race in Colorado.
Hickenlooper (D) ran against incumbent Cory Gardner (R).
Hickenlooper won by a margin of 9%.
Hickenlooper received 54%, and Gardner received 44%.
I donated $9.06 to Cal Cunningham, who ran in the US Senate race in North Carolina.
Cunningham (D) ran against incumbent Thom Tillis (R).
Tillis won by a margin of 1.8%.
Tillis received 49%, and Cunningham received 47%.
After the 2020 election, Democrats eked out the narrowest of majorities in the US Senate.
With an even 50-50 split, Vice President Kamala Harris broke the tie to provide Democrats with a majority in the chamber.
Overview
A majority of my donations, 54%, went to candidates in US Senate races.
A little over a quarter, 27%, went to candidates running for the US House.
The remainder was split between candidates running for president, 11%; State Senate, 6%; and tips for Act Blue, 2%.
My donations peaked in September, when I donated $176.08. The second highest month was October, when I donated $68.08.
A large majority of my donations, 82%, went to candidates who lost.
Whereas 18% went to candidates who won.
I donated to 21 candidates in 2020.
Of those, 16, or 76%, lost their elections.
Five candidates, or 24%, won their elections.
Those successful candidates were Joe Biden, Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, Gary Peters, and John Hickenlooper.
While many of the individual candidates I donated to lost their elections, Democrats won control of the presidency, the US Senate, and the US House.
That meant the outcomes of the 2020 elections were particularly good for Democratic donors, like myself.
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