Breaking

Old money: How America's retirees are turbocharging politics
Sep 20, 2022 1 min, 38 secs

Roy Podorson, 81, of Wilmington, Delaware, was so afraid the United States was "turning into a third-world country" in the 2020 election cycle that he spread more than 450 donations among various Republican PACs and candidates.

Crystal Snow, a 60-year-old retired business owner, also donated hundreds of times to Republican groups ahead of the 2020 election, according to federal records.

Snow told Insider she donated according to her Christian values and did so exclusively online, including to the likes of Sens.

Retirees are becoming one of the most powerful political financial forces in the nation as they spend their savings to fuel federal-level campaigns, according to an Insider review of congressional campaign contribution data from the 1999-2000 election cycle to the present. .

During the 2019-2020 election cycle alone, more than 1 million retired people contributed to congressional campaigns and political committees, according to records compiled by the nonpartisan research organization OpenSecrets. .

Doug Weber, a senior researcher at OpenSecrets, told Insider the large increase in fundraising wasn't limited to a single political party.

During the 1999-2000 election cycle, for example, retirees together donated $16,450.

Krumholz told Insider that people expect to be "catered to" after making contributions and that corporate leaders and PACs often make contributions to "get a foot in the door" with politicians.

Weber, the senior researcher at OpenSecrets, noted that in addition to an increase in political engagement and interest from retirees, campaigns may have simply "gotten more efficient at tapping that potential source and getting into contact with it.".

"Political campaigns are about persuading voters on your values and ideas, not scamming people out of every last dollar they have," said Rep.

As for Podorson, the 81-year-old frequent GOP contributor, he told Insider he'd grown tired of receiving so many emails from campaigns asking for money — more than 20 a day by his count

He's cut back on political spending this election cycle, having donated only 13 times to groups including Trump's Make America Great Again PAC and the campaigns of Sen

RECENT NEWS

SUBSCRIBE

Get monthly updates and free resources.

CONNECT WITH US

© Copyright 2024 365NEWSX - All RIGHTS RESERVED