If you live in New York City, specifically within the boundaries of the zip code 10021, there is a decent chance you are a political donor. The same goes for the zip code 22101 – a Washington, D.C. suburb by the name of McLean, Virginia. The likelihood of being a donor is also pretty high for those living in Chicago, Illinois (60611) and Potomac, Maryland (20854).
According to data compiled by opensecrets.org, the majority of campaign donations (over $200) this election cycle have come from urban areas. While that’s no surprise, the majority of said donations are also going to Democrats. So much for the GOP being the party of big money this year.
The New York City zip code 10021, in fact, gave $4,791,268 to Democrats and just $1,429,169 to Republicans. In the McLean area of 22101, however, the politically active gave $1,217,819 to Democrats and $2,336,469 to Republicans.
The top ten urban areas with the biggest proclivity for political giving are New York, New York; McLean, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; Potomac, Maryland; Washington, DC; Greenwich, Connecticut; Winnetka, Illinois; Beverly Hills, California; Los Angeles, California; and Chevy Chase, Maryland.
In addition to New York City, the people of Chicago, Potomac, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, and Chevy Chase also gave more to Democrats than Republicans. Of the top ten, only McLean, Greenwich, and Winnetka donated more to Republican candidates or Political Action Committees.
The data for political donations is also broken up into states that give the most. The top ten are the District of Columbia, California, New York, Texas, Virginia, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maryland.
Of those ten, seven states gave mostly to Democrats: D.C., California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maryland. Only the Texas, Virginia and Florida gave more to Republicans.