Sean Casten
Democrat
· IL-6 · 119th Congress
House Committee on Financial Services · and Capital Markets · Illicit Finance · and International Financial Institutions · House Committee on Science · and Technology · House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis · Joint Economic Committee
Influence Score
66.1
Moderately exposed
↑ +4.3
vs 118th (61.8)
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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
8.2
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
1.4
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$566,220
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$2,037,693
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
4.0
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
0.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
7.0
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
1.3
/ 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
12.4
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
8.2
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
2.7
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
7.7
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
JSTREETPAC
$5,950 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $16.71M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing Japan, China, South Korea. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $33K.
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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 | 64.3 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 48.1 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 61.8 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 66.1 | Moderately exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
HOUSE MAJORITY PAC NETWORK
Total money from this network
$409,261
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
1.8%
Amount from this network
$49,174
Total from all networks
$2,675,278
Networks contributing
372
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Who funds Casten
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
6.8%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
1.50×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
12.5%
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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
7
Money that arrived near votes
$27K
Distinct donors
9
Distinct employers
6
Share of their total fundraising
1.10%
Biggest clusters of timed money
GROSVENOR CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
$7K
LONE PINE CAPITAL
$7K
EVERCORE
$3K
MESIROW FINANCIAL
$3K
THE BAUPOST
$3K
THE BAUPOST
$3K
MONROE FINANCIAL
$1K
BANKERS BANK
$500
CORNERSTONE BANK
$500
GOLDER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
$500
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
$32K
DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
$19K
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
$19K
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
$16K
KIRKLAND ELLIS LLP
$15K
CANDID WINES
$14K
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
$14K
CME
$13K
DUPAGE MEDICAL
$13K
INVENERGY
$13K
MESIROW FINANCIAL
$12K
CLIFFORD LAW OFFICES
$12K
DUPAGE MEDICAL
$12K
MCMASTER-CARR SUPPLY
$11K
CME
$11K
MESIROW FINANCIAL
$10K
INVARIANT
$9K
UCHICAGO
$9K
FERMILAB
$8K
INMAN CONSULTING
$8K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Sean Casten comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$2.38M
Disclosed outside spending
$2.35M
Dark-money outside spending
$25K
Share that is dark money
1.06%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$25K
Groups hiding their donors
3
By funding network
SLF PAC
$4.80M
NEW PROSPERITY FOUNDATION; THE
$870K
RESTORATION PAC
$228K
PROGRESSIVE TURNOUT PROJECT
$196K
THE PRINCIPLES PROJECT
$177K
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS CONGRESSIONAL FUND
$162K
PROJECT 218
$129K
NEW DEMOCRAT COALITION ACTION FUND
$100K
ESAFUND
$97K
DMFI PAC
$75K
MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION
$73K
LCV VICTORY FUND
$50K
NRDC ACTION VOTES
$50K
DEMOCRACY PAC
$34K
FREEDOMWORKS FOR AMERICA
$20K
Groups that hide their donors
$25K
2 smaller groups under $500
$18
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.
NEVADANS FOR STEVEN HORSFORD
$80K
TITUS FOR CONGRESS
$80K
SUSIE LEE FOR CONGRESS
$79K
GEORGE SOROS
$525.74M
SMP
$81.00M
BLACKPAC
$47.25M
AB PAC
$25.50M
HMP
$15.00M
HOUSE MAJORITY PAC
$15.00M
CARE IN ACTION PAC
$6.60M
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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.
89 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $729K to Sean Casten across 197 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$729K
Shared contributors
89
Contributions
197
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 65 | 124 | $138K |
| 2024 | 36 | 56 | $443K |
| 2026 | 13 | 17 | $148K |
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Sean Casten 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