Bucking the tide for technology companies, Facebook’s Political Action Committee FB PAC contributed to slightly more Republican politicians than Democrats during the first quarter of 2012.
Republican members of Congress, including Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel (R-Ky.), were on the receiving end of $65,000 from Facebook’s PAC. Congressional Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on the other hand, received slightly less: $53,500.
The minor lean to the right is unusual for a technology company, which tend to favor Democrats. For example, Microsoft has contributed $694,284 to Democrats and $477,706 to Republicans via its PAC this year, while Google has given $101,800 to Democrats and $100,000 to Republicans.
A look at technology companies’ contributions to presidential campaigns reveals a wider split. Microsoft has given $289,088 to President Obama’s re-election effort this year, compared to $71,990 for Republican challenger Mitt Romney. Comcast’s contributions offer a similar example: $157,962 to Obama and $13,750 for Romney.
The traditional logic suggests that Democrats are the more technology-friendly of the two major American political parties, but Facebook’s mostly bipartisan congressional contributions could be interpreted as the early sign of a changing tide.
Facebook also gave to several leading members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, which oversee the U.S. court system. That may reveal some of Facebook’s political strategy, as it routinely finds itself either on attack or defense in the courtroom.
The disclosure forms also revealed the top contributors to Facebook’s PAC: CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg, founder of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman and venture capitalist Marc Andreessen all chipped in the maximum allowable amount of $5,000.
Does the Democrat-Republican split of Facebook’s PAC surprise you? Sound off in the comments below.
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