Now showing summary data for the 2024 election cycle.

The Savings & Loan industry's contributions are modest, just a fraction of those given by commercial banks.

From the 2008 to the 2012 presidential election cycles, S&L donations actually dropped a bit. And they were on track to do the same in 2016, until Andy Beal decided to play big. Beal is a college dropout math whiz who founded and chairs two banks; Forbes estimates his worth at about $9.9 billion. While he’s not a stranger to politics, he decided to break out as a major donor in the 2016 cycle: He gave $5.9 million to outside spending groups, most of which went to the super PAC he helped start, Save America from Its Government, that supported his friend Donald Trump. Beal’s money accounts for most of the $7.1 million in contributions by savings & loan institutions in the 2016 elections; in 2012, the industry’s total giving came to about $1.2 million. Lobbying expenditures by S&Ls took a huge dive after the Great Recession began to settle in in 2007; that remains its peak year of spending going all the way back to 1998. But in 2015 the industry’s outlays inched upward, and did so again in 2016, to just over $1 million. In Washington, the industry tries to persuade officials to view community banks as being worthy of exemption from most federal banking regs. That argument is likely to come into play as debate heats up over repealing parts of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection, as many Republican members of Congress and President Trump have said they want to do.

Updated March 2017 [Read more Background]

Top Contributors, 2023-2024

Contributor Total To Dems To Repubs To liberal groups To conservative groups To nonpartisan groups Lean
Republic Finance $251,541 $0 $1,541 $0 $250,000 $0 Leans Conservative
Beal Bank (Employees) $225,650 $0 $6,600 $0 $219,050 $0 Leans Conservative
Flagstar Bank $119,090 $26,106 $89,684 $0 $0 $0 Leans Republican
Colonial Savings $25,318 $23,556 $1,512 $250 $0 $0 Leans Democrat
Cumberland Security Bank $20,000 $0 $20,000 $0 $0 $0 Leans Republican
Union Savings Bank (Ohio) $16,865 $15,775 $1,090 $0 $0 $0 Leans Democrat
Pathward NA $15,561 $4,850 $10,711 $0 $0 $0 Leans Republican
Community Commerce Bank $15,292 $15,264 $0 $0 $0 $0 Leans Democrat
Oceanfirst Bank $11,061 $5,000 $3,561 $0 $0 $0 Leans Democrat
First Federal Savings & Loans $7,150 $0 $7,150 $0 $0 $0 Leans Republican
WSFS Bank $6,369 $1,007 $5,142 $215 $0 $0 Leans Republican
Citizens State Bank $5,931 $723 $5,024 -$50 $0 $0 Leans Republican
Savings Bank of Mendocino Co $5,105 $4,005 $0 $1,000 $0 $0 Leans Democrat
Leans Democrat Leans Republican Leans Liberal Leans Conservative On the fence

Contribution Trends, 1990-2024

Annual Lobbying Totals, 1998-2024

Top Lobbying Clients, 2023

Client/Parent Organization Total
Meta Financial Group $620,000
New York Community Bancorp $160,000

Party Split of Recipients, by Election Cycle, 1990-2024

Top Recipients, 2023-2024

Candidate Chamber Amount
Trump, Donald (R) President $11,558
Allred, Colin (D-TX) House $10,128
Cramer, Kevin (R-ND) Senate $10,050
Biden, Joe (D) President $10,011
Huizenga, Bill (R-MI) House $10,000

Average Contributions to Members of Congress, 1990-2024

These charts display average contributions to all Members of Congress, including the campaign committees of sitting members who run for president. The surge in giving seen during the 2008 cycle for the Senate reflects contributions given to the presidential campaign committees of Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

All the numbers on this page are for the 2024 election cycle and based on Federal Election Commission data released on April 16, 2024.

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