Bill Foster
Democrat
· IL-11 · 119th Congress
House Committee on Science (Chair) · House Committee on Financial Services · Financial Technology · and Artificial Intelligence · and Capital Markets · Illicit Finance · and International Financial Institutions · and Technology · House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis
Influence Score
71.1
Moderately exposed
— ◊ —
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
9.4
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.8
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$206,451
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$1,664,935
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
4.6
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
0.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
7.6
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
3.0
/ 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
12.8
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
7.8
/ 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
8.2
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
DMFI PAC
$81,702 outside spending
JSTREETPAC
$9,600 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $29.92M 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 — $60K.
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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 | 57.0 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 59.2 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 36.2 | Least exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 71.1 | Moderately exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Total money from this network
$69,000
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
1.2%
Amount from this network
$36,500
Total from all networks
$3,065,927
Networks contributing
394
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Who funds Foster
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$1,853,866
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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
4.8%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
0.1%
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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
17
Money that arrived near votes
$59K
Distinct donors
21
Distinct employers
12
Share of their total fundraising
2.44%
Biggest clusters of timed money
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$7K
BLACKSTONE
$7K
EUCLIDEAN CAPITAL
$7K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$5K
AMERICAN SECURITIES
$3K
BLACKSTONE
$3K
GOOGLE
$3K
MESIROW FINANCIAL
$3K
MESIROW FINANCIAL
$3K
OPPORTUNITY FINANCIAL
$3K
— ◊ —
Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
FERMILAB
$23K
FERMILAB
$23K
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
$23K
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
$21K
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
$18K
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
$18K
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
$18K
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
$17K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$17K
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
$16K
ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
$15K
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
$15K
ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
$14K
HARVARD UNIVERSITY
$14K
BLACKSTONE
$14K
OASIS LABS
$13K
CLIFFORD LAW OFFICES
$13K
COONEY AND CONWAY
$13K
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
$12K
SIMMONS HANLY CONROY
$12K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Bill Foster comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$966K
Disclosed outside spending
$966K
Dark-money outside spending
$49
Share that is dark money
0.01%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$41
Groups hiding their donors
2
By funding network
CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION
$1.52M
PROJECT 218
$125K
RESTORATION PAC
$92K
DMFI PAC
$82K
DEFEATING COMMUNISM PAC
$56K
DEMOCRACY PAC
$195
ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION ACTIVATOR POLITICAL INVOLVEMENT FUND (FED) 'ACTIVATOR'/'ILLINOIS FARM BUREAU ACTIVATOR'
$69
NEA ADVOCACY FUND
$67
LCV VICTORY FUND
$41
SIERRA CLUB INDEPENDENT ACTION
$40
Groups that hide their donors
2 smaller groups under $500
$49
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.
66 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $778K to Bill Foster across 161 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$778K
Shared contributors
66
Contributions
161
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 34 | 59 | $46K |
| 2024 | 38 | 71 | $376K |
| 2026 | 18 | 31 | $356K |
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Bill Foster 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