Michael Lawler
Republican
· NY-17 · 119th Congress
House Committee on Financial Services · House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Influence Score
77.7
Highly exposed
↑ +18.2
vs 118th (59.5)
— ◊ —
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
9.9
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
4.2
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$4,959,621
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$24,486,762
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
4.2
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
0.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
6.4
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
3.5
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
< 0.1
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
8.1
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
10.0
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
4.4
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
11.5
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$73,174 direct
REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (RJC-PAC)
$17,500 direct
NORPAC
$17,100 direct
CITYPAC
$1,000 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $21.84M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, China. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $44K.
— ◊ —
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 | — | — |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | — | — |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 59.5 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 77.7 | Highly exposed |
— ◊ —
Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
SLF PAC
Total money from this network
$9,482,672
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
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
1.8%
Amount from this network
$73,174
Total from all networks
$4,122,969
Networks contributing
647
— ◊ —
Who funds Lawler
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
— ◊ —
Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
5.8%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
1.50×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
6.6%
— ◊ —
Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
71
Money that arrived near votes
$226K
Distinct donors
93
Distinct employers
50
Share of their total fundraising
2.89%
Biggest clusters of timed money
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$10K
AMERICAN EXPRESS
$7K
APOLLO MANAGEMENT
$7K
BENTON CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
$7K
ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT
$7K
FISHER INVESTMENTS
$7K
FORTRESS INVESTMENT
$7K
FOUNDERS FUND
$7K
FOUNDERS FUND
$7K
G2 INVESTMENT
$7K
— ◊ —
Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HOMEMAKER
$135K
HOMEMAKER
$127K
HIGH OPPORTUNITY NEIGHBORHOOD
$50K
BLACKSTONE
$30K
EMPLOYER
$22K
PERIGROVE
$21K
CEO
$20K
CAPITAL REALTY
$18K
BGR
$17K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$16K
BRODIE GENERATIONAL CAPITAL
$16K
MILLER STRATEGIES
$16K
BGR
$16K
APOLLO
$16K
ENTREPRENEUR
$16K
PRESIDENT
$16K
APOLLO
$16K
INVESTMENTS
$15K
APOLLO MANAGEMENT
$14K
BRODIE GENERATIONAL CAPITAL
$14K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Michael Lawler comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$15.56M
Disclosed outside spending
$15.33M
Dark-money outside spending
$232K
Share that is dark money
1.49%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$223K
Groups hiding their donors
6
By funding network
HOUSE MAJORITY PAC NETWORK
$9.79M
VOTEVETS
$7.27M
DCCC
$4.08M
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS CONGRESSIONAL FUND
$2.99M
GIFFORDS PAC
$1.66M
AMERICA PAC
$938K
OUR HUDSON PAC
$907K
SLF PAC
$527K
LCV VICTORY FUND
$439K
SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY AMERICA
$400K
BATTLEGROUND NEW YORK
$263K
POLE POSITION PAC
$66K
SAVE WESTERN CULTURE
$45K
PATRIOTS FOR A BRIGHTER AMERICA
$26K
AFT SOLIDARITY
$17K
Groups that hide their donors
$220K
$8K
2 smaller groups under $500
$511
Likely donors behind the dark money supporting this member
Inferred
Donors who fund the disclosed PACs in the same network as the hidden groups above. "Coverage" is how many of that network's disclosed groups a donor funds — the more they fund, the more likely they also back the hidden group.
JEFFREY J KOLOZE
$8K
GEORGE ERBACHER
$3K
THOMAS MORRIS
$2K
EDWIN BOTERO
$300
NEVADANS FOR STEVEN HORSFORD
$80K
TITUS FOR CONGRESS
$80K
SUSIE LEE FOR CONGRESS
$79K
GEORGE SOROS
$525.74M
SMP
$81.00M
BLACKPAC
$47.25M
— ◊ —
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.
693 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $3.82M to Michael Lawler across 1,073 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$3.82M
Shared contributors
693
Contributions
1,073
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 20 | 44 | $208K |
| 2024 | 382 | 530 | $1.70M |
| 2026 | 379 | 499 | $1.91M |
— ◊ —
Michael Lawler's file shows clear influence markers across multiple categories for the top funding network, placing them in the upper range of this Congress. The pattern runs above what coincidence would produce, and the methodology page documents what each category requires.
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