Sam Graves
Republican
· MO-6 · 119th Congress
House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Chair) · House Committee on Armed Services · Public Buildings · and Emergency Management · and Hazardous Materials
Influence Score
59.2
Moderately exposed
↓ -4.4
vs 118th (63.6)
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This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
8.9
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
< 0.1
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$63
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
5.3
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
2.9
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
2.2
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
0.0
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
12.4
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
5.8
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
4.7
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
3.6
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$22,604 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $40.08M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $80K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | 38.4 | Least exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 53.6 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 63.6 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 59.2 | Moderately exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Total money from this network
$191,000
Number of funding networks contributing
1
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Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Share from this one network
2.3%
Amount from this network
$95,500
Total from all networks
$4,142,936
Networks contributing
461
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Who funds Graves
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
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Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
91.7%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
0.0%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
9
Money that arrived near votes
$16K
Distinct donors
16
Distinct employers
5
Share of their total fundraising
1.81%
Biggest clusters of timed money
AMERICAN AIRLINES
$2K
BOEING
$2K
BOEING
$2K
JBTC TRUCKING
$2K
BOEING
$2K
BOEING
$2K
AMERICAN AIRLINES
$2K
AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATIONS
$2K
AVELO AIRLINES
$1K
BOEING
$800
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HERZOG
$41K
SNK REAL PROPERTY HOLDING
$40K
HERZOG
$27K
DELTA AIR LINES
$27K
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
$23K
KLEINHEINZ CAPITAL
$20K
ALLEGIANT TRAVEL
$20K
BNSF RAILWAY
$19K
HERTZOG CONTRACTING
$17K
RYDER SYSTEMS
$14K
BOEING
$13K
HOMEMAKER
$13K
BOEING
$13K
TANGO LIMA
$12K
THE BOEING
$12K
SNK PROPERTIES
$12K
WILLIAMS BROTHERS CONSTRUCTION
$11K
KIT BOND STRATEGIES LLP
$11K
THE BOEING
$11K
CEMEX
$10K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Sam Graves comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
By funding network
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FUND INC.
$3K
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$862
MISSOURI RIGHT TO LIFE FEDERAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$331
KOCH, INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (KOCHPAC)
$31
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
37 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $240K to Sam Graves across 39 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$240K
Shared contributors
37
Contributions
39
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2 | 2 | $196K |
| 2024 | 15 | 17 | $21K |
| 2026 | 20 | 20 | $24K |
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Revolving Door
4 former staff members
who worked for Sam Graves or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PAUL SASS | Staff Director, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Deputy Sta… | CASSIDY & ASSOCIATES, INC. | 22 | 127 | 2023–2025 |
| JACK RUDDY | Legislative Assistant, Congressman Sam Graves; Legislative Director, Congressman… | AXADVOCACY GOVERNMENT RELATIONS | 7 | 20 | 2025–2025 |
| SETH APPLETON | Principal EVP, Ginnie Mae; Assistant Sec. for PD&R and General Deputy Assistant … | U.S. MORTGAGE INSURERS | 1 | 10 | 2023–2025 |
| MEGHAN SCHMIDTLEIN | Congressman Luetkemeyer - Legislative Director Congressman Graves - Sr. Legislat… | HB STRATEGIES | 1 | 1 | 2025–2025 |
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Sam Graves sits in the middle of this Congress on the index. There is a measured sponsor relationship, but the vote-alignment signal is weaker — money flows; the votes do not follow in lockstep.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required