From the Center for Responsive Politics

Sen. John Edwards' Political Fundraising
By Steven Weiss
During his recent run for president, John Edwards received wide
recognition for energizing voters on the campaign trail, a skill
honed during his career as a successful trial lawyer in North
Carolina. That ability also made Edwards, who withdrew from the
presidential race in March, a prodigious fundraiser.
Edwards, who was selected today as John Kerry's running mate on
the Democratic ticket, raised $33.1 million for his presidential
campaign through May 31. He has collected $5.5 million in his
Senate campaign account since 1997, a total that does not
include $6.15 million in personal funds that helped him to win
his 1998 Senate race against incumbent Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R).
For his career as a federal candidate, Edwards has raised far
more money from lawyers and law firms than from any other
industry. The $11.6 million he has collected from the legal
profession -- a total heavily boosted by money from trial
lawyers -- is more than 10 times the amount raised from his No.
2 industry, comprised of individuals classifying themselves as
retired, and more than 20 times what he has raised from his No.
3 industry, securities and investment firms.
Edwards' top contributor since he entered federal politics is
the Los Angeles firm of Girardi & Keese, whose employees have
donated a total of nearly $158,000 to his presidential and
Senate campaign accounts. Second on his top contributor list is
Goldman Sachs, the investment giant, with $136,000 in individual
contributions.
Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, a law firm based
in Montgomery, Ala., is third in total contributions to Edwards
with slightly more than $117,000 in individual donations. Fourth
is the Dallas-based firm of Baron & Budd, with just under
$117,000 from employees. Fred Baron, the firm's principal, was
chief fundraiser for the Edwards presidential campaign and began
raising money for John Kerry after Edwards dropped out of the
race.
Sixteen of Edwards' top 20 contributors are law firms.
Edwards also has proved successful at raising money for his
leadership political action committee, New American Optimists.
Established in August 2001, New American Optimists raised more
than $6 million in individual, PAC and soft money contributions
during the 2002 election cycle. The legal profession accounted
for $4.1 million of the total.
The biggest contributor to New American Optimists, however, is
not a lawyer. It is Steve Bing, a major Democratic donor who
runs the movie studio Shangri-La Entertainment. Bing gave
$905,000 -- all but $5,000 of it in soft money - to New American
Optimists in the 2002 cycle.
Edwards showed during his presidential campaign that he could
raise money in areas beyond the South. He raised more money in
California ($2.7 million) than in any other state. He took in
$2.1 million in Texas, President Bush's home state, and $2
million in New York.
He collected $557,000 in Pennsylvania, and raised at least
$230,000 in Michigan, Ohio and Washington state. All four are
considered “battleground” states that will be critical to both
parties in the presidential election.
This report, with links to relevant pages on the Center's Web
site, OpenSecrets.org, is available online at
<http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=131>