Some in GOP shrug at loss of firms’ cash

WASHINGTON — Corporations that pledged to cut off Republican lawmakers who opposed certifying the presidential election largely followed through on the commitment, removing a key source of financial support for the party in the first three months of the year.

But at least a third of those 147 Republicans nevertheless raised more campaign money compared with the same period in 2019, boosting their collections from individual donors to make up the difference, a Washington Post analysis of federal election records shows.

And a handful of congressional Republicans — the most outspoken supporters of election-related conspiracy theories that helped inspire the Jan. 6 mob attack on the Capitol — blew past their fundraising performances from two years earlier.

Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, each pulled in more than $3 million. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., whose extreme views prompted a party-line House vote in February that stripped her of committee assignments, raised more than $3.2 million. That earned her the second-highest fundraising haul among House Republicans, behind only Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., who also opposed certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral win.

In total, a dozen GOP election objectors raised at least $1 million each. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., now facing a federal investigation into possible sex trafficking, raised $1.8 million. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, collected $2.1 million.

Corporate interests and other traditional conservative donors have rallied to the handful of Republicans moving to banish former President Donald Trump. Those House Republicans, who have drawn primary challenges after voting to impeach Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack, outpaced their opposition in the first quarter, according to a review by the Center for Responsive Politics. House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., the most prominent among them, collected $1.5 million.

And Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who has launched a super PAC to support anti-Trump Republicans, raised $1.1 million, his highest-ever quarterly total.

Republicans with outsize media presences and rising profiles among small donors may not have registered the snub from big businesses. But a number of industry-friendly lawmakers, who once leveraged posts on top committees to rake in corporate contributions, saw their fundraising drop dramatically.

Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., saw his first-quarter collections crater from $147,000 in 2019 to $42,000 this year after voting against certifying Biden’s victory.