Thom Tillis
Republican
· NC Senate · 119th Congress
Senate Committee on Banking (Chair) · Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe · Senate Committee on Armed Services · and Urban Affairs · and Investment · Senate Committee on Finance · and Global Competitiveness · Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Senate Committee on the Judiciary · Competition Policy · and Consumer Rights · Agency Action · and Federal Rights · and Border Safety · Federal Rights and Federal Courts
Influence Score
72.4
Highly exposed
↑ +27.0
vs 118th (45.4)
— ◊ —
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
5.1
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.7
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$151,100
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$6,468
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
9.9
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
3.7
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
6.0
/ 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
7.5
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
8.3
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
9.5
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
4.7
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
NORPAC
$1,000 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $80.37M 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 — $161K.
— ◊ —
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 | 68.2 | Highly exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 67.7 | Highly exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 45.4 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 72.4 | Highly exposed |
— ◊ —
Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
WOMEN SPEAK OUT PAC
Total money from this network
$705,698
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.
Network
WINRED
Share from this one network
1.0%
Amount from this network
$23,983
Total from all networks
$2,419,013
Networks contributing
582
— ◊ —
Who funds Tillis
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$1,049,341
— ◊ —
Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
98.3%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
88.2%
— ◊ —
Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
25
Money that arrived near votes
$111K
Distinct donors
41
Distinct employers
15
Share of their total fundraising
7.78%
Biggest clusters of timed money
BLACKSTONE
$20K
BLACKSTONE
$16K
BLACKSTONE
$10K
BLACKSTONE
$7K
BLACKSTONE
$7K
FISHER INVESTMENTS
$7K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$3K
BLACKSTONE
$3K
BLACKSTONE
$3K
BLACKSTONE
$3K
— ◊ —
Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HOMEMAKER
$88K
BLACKSTONE
$71K
BRIGHTHOUSE FINANCIAL
$52K
CORNING
$42K
LOVE S TRAVEL STOPS COUNTRY STORES
$40K
METLIFE
$38K
REYES
$38K
PAMETTO
$36K
SOCIAL CAPITAL
$28K
WCAS
$28K
NY STATE SOLAR
$26K
STATE STREET
$23K
SOUTHEAST RADIATION ONCOLOGY
$22K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$22K
CLEAN ENERGY
$22K
BNY MELLON
$21K
LIVE OAK BANK
$21K
KEMPER SPORTS
$19K
BLOOMIN ARTISTIC DESIGN
$19K
DOVENMUEHLE
$19K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Thom Tillis comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$89K
Disclosed outside spending
$87K
Dark-money outside spending
$3K
Share that is dark money
3.12%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$0
Groups hiding their donors
2
By funding network
SMP
$68.61M
DSCC
$48.48M
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY ACTION, INC. (AFP ACTION) DBA CVA ACTION AND DBA LIBRE ACTION
$26.95M
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$7.74M
PATIENTS FOR AFFORDABLE DRUGS ACTION
$7.40M
PRIORITIES USA ACTION
$6.63M
NEA ADVOCACY FUND
$5.24M
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY & MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES P E O P L E
$3.85M
VOTE FOR EQUALITY
$3.69M
VOTEVETS
$2.97M
PIEDMONT RISING
$2.30M
BLACK YOUTH PROJECT 100
$2.25M
CHANGE NOW
$1.52M
AMERICA VOTES ACTION FUND
$1.27M
OPPORTUNITY MATTERS FUND, INC.
$1.10M
Groups that hide their donors
1 smaller group under $500
$282
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
— ◊ —
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.
122 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $253K to Thom Tillis across 143 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$253K
Shared contributors
122
Contributions
143
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | $250 |
| 2024 | 4 | 5 | $9K |
| 2026 | 117 | 137 | $244K |
— ◊ —
Revolving Door
9 former staff members
who worked for Thom Tillis or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TED LEHMAN | Chief of Staff, Senator Tillis; Senate Judiciary Committee-Counsel, then Chief C… | TODD STRATEGY GROUP | 73 | 580 | 2023–2025 |
| KYLE SANDERS | Special Assistant for Economic Development/Deputy Chief of Staff, Sen. Thom Till… | THORN RUN PARTNERS | 28 | 142 | 2023–2025 |
| SIERRA CATO | Sen. Adv on Minority Ed., DOE OEID; Sen. Adv., DOE OES; Acting Staff Secretary, … | LEWIS-BURKE ASSOCIATES, LLC | 7 | 25 | 2023–2025 |
| JEFFREY WILLIAMS | Deputy Assistant Secretary, Financial Institutions Policy, U.S. Dept. of the Tre… | GALAXY DIGITAL HOLDINGS LP | 1 | 9 | 2023–2025 |
| SYDNEY FINCHER | Professional Staff Member, Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Propert… | AFLAC INCORPORATED | 1 | 1 | 2023–2023 |
| TREVOR MERRIFIELD | Sen. Thom Tillis, Intern, June 2018-August 2018; Senate Environment and Public W… | CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE U.S.A. | 1 | 1 | 2024–2024 |
| SETH WILLIFORD | Legislative Correspondent, General Counsel, Sen. Tillis; Professional Staff Memb… | THE BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE, INC. | 1 | 1 | 2025–2025 |
| SYDNEY FINCHER | Professional Staff Member for Sen. Tillis, S-Judiciary Intellectual Property Sub… | NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS | 1 | 1 | 2025–2025 |
| CHAD RHOADES | Counsel, Senator Thom Tillis | CRANFILL SUMNER LLP | 1 | 2 | 2025–2025 |
— ◊ —
Thom Tillis'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