Ted Budd
Republican
· NC Senate · 119th Congress
Senate Committee on Commerce (Chair) · and Competitiveness (Chair) · House Committee on Financial Services · Joint Economic Committee · Senate Committee on Armed Services · and Transportation · and Innovation · Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship · Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Influence Score
72.1
Highly exposed
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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
4.9
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
6.0
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$43,451,242
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$34,739,774
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
6.3
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
0.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
4.0
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
3.3
/ 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
9.1
/ 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
10.0
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
6.3
/ 12
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $57.11M 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 — $114K.
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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 | 53.5 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 61.6 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 60.4 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 72.1 | Highly exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION
Total money from this network
$13,572,828
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.
Network
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FOR AMERICA
Share from this one network
1.7%
Amount from this network
$31,500
Total from all networks
$1,910,709
Networks contributing
439
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Who funds Budd
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$44,303,387
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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
5.5%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
55.0%
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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
6
Money that arrived near votes
$40K
Distinct donors
34
Distinct employers
1
Share of their total fundraising
2.72%
Biggest clusters of timed money
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$17K
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$12K
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$7K
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$2K
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$2K
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$1K
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$500
F M BANK
$500
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HOMEMAKER
$437K
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$51K
RDV
$41K
HOMEMAKER
$40K
SELF EMPLOYED - HOMEMAKER
$34K
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$26K
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS
$20K
BLACKSTONE
$20K
STARKEY HEARING TECHNOLOGIES
$19K
PRESIDENT
$18K
INMAR
$18K
TIME INVESTMENT
$18K
ADVANCE FINANCIALS
$17K
FRED SMITH
$16K
EXECUTIVE
$16K
RETIRED - NO EMPLOYER
$16K
SAULSBURY INDUSTRIES
$16K
HOMEMAKER
$15K
BARNHILL CONTRACTING
$15K
RIVER WILD
$14K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Ted Budd comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$40.10M
Disclosed outside spending
$18.54M
Dark-money outside spending
$21.55M
Share that is dark money
53.75%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$174K
Groups hiding their donors
13
By funding network
SMP
$22.08M
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY ACTION, INC. (AFP ACTION) DBA CVA ACTION AND DBA LIBRE ACTION
$18.33M
CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION
$14.02M
WOMEN VOTE
$6.13M
OPPORTUNITY MATTERS FUND, INC.
$3.05M
CAROLINA SENATE FUND
$2.49M
TRUTH AND JUSTICE FUND COMPANY
$2.03M
COMMITTEE TO DEFEAT THE PRESIDENT
$1.69M
AMERICAN DREAM FEDERAL ACTION
$1.03M
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FUND INC.
$949K
VOTE FOR EQUALITY
$847K
GMI PAC, INC.
$800K
OPPORTUNITY MATTERS FUND ACTION
$800K
SENATE CONSERVATIVES ACTION
$640K
THE CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DBA AMERICANS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY
$570K
Groups that hide their donors
$11.05M
$641K
$13K
$7K
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
AMERICA S PROMISE
$4.73M
BLAINE FOR CONGRESS
$1.51M
CISCOMANI FOR CONGRESS
$24K
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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.
179 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $441K to Ted Budd across 291 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$441K
Shared contributors
179
Contributions
291
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 171 | 255 | $414K |
| 2024 | 9 | 23 | $18K |
| 2026 | 4 | 13 | $9K |
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Ted Budd'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