October 8, 2009 - Earlier today, 30 Senators wrote to Majority Leader Harry Reid, asking him to ensure that the Senate's final health care reform bill include a public insurance option. All Senators who signed the letter were either Democrats or Independents that caucus with the Democrats.
The 30 Senators who signed the letter in support of the public option received an average of $15,937 in campaign contributions from the health insurance industry between January 2003 and June 2009, 57% less than the $37,322 received by the 70 senators who did not sign the letter.
Omitting the 40 Senate Republicans, the numbers are similar: the 30 Senators who signed the letter in support of the public option received an average of $15,937 in campaign contributions from the health insurance industry between January 2003 and June 2009, 54% less than the $34,400 received by the 30 Senate Democrats (or Independents that caucus with Democrats) who did not sign the letter.
| Campaign Contributions from Accident and Health Insurance Interests to Senators | ||||
| Senator | Party | State | Signed letter in support of public option | Contributions (1/2003-6/2009) |
| Chambliss | Republican | GA | Did not sign | $122,900 |
| Baucus | Democrat | MT | Did not sign | $100,550 |
| Nelson | Democrat | NE | Did not sign | $90,873 |
| McConnell | Republican | KY | Did not sign | $85,850 |
| Hatch | Republican | UT | Did not sign | $84,550 |
| Grassley | Republican | IA | Did not sign | $76,500 |
| Stabenow | Democrat | MI | Signed | $75,950 |
| DeMint | Republican | SC | Did not sign | $67,960 |
| Burr | Republican | NC | Did not sign | $67,958 |
| Graham | Republican | SC | Did not sign | $67,223 |
| Specter | Democrat | PA | Signed | $66,150 |
| Dodd | Democrat | CT | Did not sign | $63,856 |
| Gregg | Republican | NH | Did not sign | $63,250 |
| Kyl | Republican | AZ | Did not sign | $60,950 |
| Lincoln | Democrat | AR | Did not sign | $60,500 |
| Bayh | Democrat | IN | Did not sign | $59,000 |
| Corker | Republican | TN | Did not sign | $58,675 |
| Alexander | Republican | TN | Did not sign | $58,100 |
| Collins | Republican | ME | Did not sign | $57,700 |
| Levin | Democrat | MI | Did not sign | $55,600 |
| Reid | Democrat | NV | Did not sign | $54,350 |
| Murray | Democrat | WA | Did not sign | $51,500 |
| Enzi | Republican | WY | Did not sign | $50,500 |
| Voinovich | Republican | OH | Did not sign | $49,550 |
| Bunning | Republican | KY | Did not sign | $44,000 |
| Conrad | Democrat | ND | Did not sign | $43,000 |
| Carper | Democrat | DE | Did not sign | $42,690 |
| Ensign | Republican | NV | Did not sign | $40,000 |
| Cornyn | Republican | TX | Did not sign | $39,175 |
| Wyden | Democrat | OR | Signed | $38,400 |
| Murkowski | Republican | AK | Did not sign | $37,200 |
| Isakson | Republican | GA | Did not sign | $36,800 |
| Warner | Democrat | VA | Did not sign | $36,750 |
| McCain | Republican | AZ | Did not sign | $35,750 |
| Harkin | Democrat | IA | Did not sign | $33,500 |
| Johanns | Republican | NE | Did not sign | $32,300 |
| Nelson | Democrat | FL | Did not sign | $31,950 |
| Lieberman | Independent | CT | Did not sign | $31,500 |
| Durbin | Democrat | IL | Did not sign | $30,925 |
| Menéndez | Democrat | NJ | Signed | $30,500 |
| Udall | Democrat | CO | Did not sign | $29,800 |
| Sessions | Republican | AL | Did not sign | $29,000 |
| Casey | Democrat | PA | Signed | $28,112 |
| Cardin | Democrat | MD | Signed | $27,879 |
| Landrieu | Democrat | LA | Did not sign | $27,550 |
| Roberts | Republican | KS | Did not sign | $27,250 |
| Wicker | Republican | MS | Did not sign | $27,000 |
| Schumer | Democrat | NY | Did not sign | $26,500 |
| Dorgan | Democrat | ND | Did not sign | $26,350 |
| Barrasso | Republican | WY | Did not sign | $26,000 |
| Snowe | Republican | ME | Did not sign | $25,500 |
| Crapo | Republican | ID | Did not sign | $24,500 |
| Pryor | Democrat | AR | Did not sign | $23,250 |
| Feinstein | Democrat | CA | Signed | $23,000 |
| Rockefeller | Democrat | WV | Signed | $22,474 |
| Bingaman | Democrat | NM | Did not sign | $22,000 |
| Thune | Republican | SD | Did not sign | $21,958 |
| McCaskill | Democrat | MO | Did not sign | $19,600 |
| Cochran | Republican | MS | Did not sign | $19,000 |
| Feingold | Democrat | WI | Signed | $18,100 |
| Hagan | Democrat | NC | Did not sign | $17,100 |
| Bond | Republican | MO | Did not sign | $16,750 |
| Reed | Democrat | RI | Signed | $16,000 |
| Vitter | Republican | LA | Did not sign | $15,958 |
| Bennett | Republican | UT | Did not sign | $15,500 |
| Inhofe | Republican | OK | Did not sign | $15,000 |
| Brownback | Republican | KS | Did not sign | $14,950 |
| Lautenberg | Democrat | NJ | Signed | $14,500 |
| Risch | Republican | ID | Did not sign | $14,500 |
| Johnson | Democrat | SD | Did not sign | $14,250 |
| Brown | Democrat | OH | Signed | $14,000 |
| Hutchison | Republican | TX | Did not sign | $14,000 |
| Shelby | Republican | AL | Did not sign | $13,500 |
| Kerry | Democrat | MA | Signed | $13,050 |
| Mikulski | Democrat | MD | Signed | $13,000 |
| Coburn | Republican | OK | Did not sign | $12,208 |
| Gillibrand | Democrat | NY | Signed | $12,000 |
| Lugar | Republican | IN | Did not sign | $11,050 |
| Klobuchar | Democrat | MN | Did not sign | $10,750 |
| Begich | Democrat | AK | Did not sign | $10,300 |
| Udall | Democrat | NM | Signed | $10,250 |
| Whitehouse | Democrat | RI | Signed | $10,250 |
| Boxer | Democrat | CA | Signed | $10,100 |
| Tester | Democrat | MT | Did not sign | $9,500 |
| Cantwell | Democrat | WA | Signed | $8,750 |
| Leahy | Democrat | VT | Signed | $8,250 |
| Byrd | Democrat | WV | Did not sign | $6,000 |
| Merkley | Democrat | OR | Signed | $5,500 |
| Akaka | Democrat | HI | Signed | $3,500 |
| Franken | Democrat | MN | Signed | $3,350 |
| Bennet | Democrat | CO | Signed | $2,000 |
| Inouye | Democrat | HI | Signed | $2,000 |
| Shaheen | Democrat | NH | Did not sign | $1,250 |
| Webb | Democrat | VA | Did not sign | $1,250 |
| Sanders | Independent | VT | Signed | $1,050 |
| Burris | Democrat | IL | Signed | $0 |
| Kaufman | Democrat | DE | Signed | $0 |
| Kirk | Democrat | MA | Signed | $0 |
| Kohl | Democrat | WI | Signed | $0 |
| LeMieux | Republican | FL | Did not sign | $0 |
| Average received by the 30 Senators who signed letter | $15,937 | |||
| Average received by the 70 Senators who did not sign letter | $37,322 | |||
| Average received by the 30 non-Republican Senators who did not sign letter | $34,400 | |||
Methodology:
Campaign contributions data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets Open Data. Date range of contributions is January 2003 through June 2009. Contributions to presidential campaigns (Dodd, Kerry, Lieberman, McCain) are omitted. The October 8, 2009 letter in support of the public option is published at Talking Points Memo.
