The Briefing
- When it comes to the biggest political spenders in the U.S., Baby Boomers rank #1
- The Silent Generation is a close 2nd, followed by Gen X and Millennials respectively
- Overall political spending in the U.S. has reached all-time highs, but small donor spending (people who give $200 or less) still accounts for a fraction of overall donations
Political Spending in America, By Generation
In politics, the candidate who spends the most money usually wins. Because of this, donations are an important part of political campaigns, and the people behind those donations wield an intangible level of power and influence.
As our team put together the inaugural Generational Power Index (GPI), which looks at power dynamics across generations in the U.S., we started wondering which generation spent the most on political campaigns and lobbying.
Here’s what we found out.
Old Money
Of top spenders in the U.S., the Silent Generation (age 76+) and Baby Boomers (age 57-75) both sit at the top of the ranking.
In 2020, 55% of the biggest campaign donations in the U.S. came from the Silent Generation, and meanwhile, more than 60% of the biggest lobbying expenditures came from organizations run by Baby Boomers.
| Generation | Share of U.S. Spend on Electoral Campaigns | Share of U.S. Spend on Lobbying | Overall U.S. Spend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen Z | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Millennials | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| Gen X | 10% | 35% | 18% |
| Baby Boomers | 30% | 60% | 39% |
| Silent Generation | 55% | 0% | 38% |
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
*Note: Percentages are based on the top 20 spenders in each category, not overall spending.
Outliers
Of course, there were a few exceptions.
Facebook, run by Millennial Mark Zuckerburg, spent over $19 million on lobbying in 2020. The social media giant spent more than any other Big Tech monolith, with lobbying efforts focused on competition and consumer privacy issues.
When it comes to electoral spending, Millennial Dustin Moskovitz is the youngest person on the list, contributing over $50 million to the Democrats in 2020. Interestingly, he co-founded Facebook back in 2004, but he left in 2008 to start the project management platform, Asana.
Where does this data come from?
Source: Visual Capitalist’s 2021 Generational Power Index (GPI)
Notes: Check out the full report for more information around methodology
