Mike Rounds
Republican
· SD Senate · 119th Congress
Senate Committee on Banking (Chair) · and Community Development (Chair) · and Investment (Chair) · Waste Management (Chair) · and Regulatory Oversight (Chair) · Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe · Senate Committee on Appropriations · Rural Development · Food and Drug Administration · and Related Agencies · Health and Human Services · and Education · Veterans Affairs · Senate Committee on Armed Services · and Urban Affairs · Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Senate Committee on Foreign Relations · the Pacific · and International Cybersecurity Policy · Multilateral Institutions · and International Economic · and Environmental Policy · Senate Committee on Indian Affairs · Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs · Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Influence Score
76.8
Highly exposed
↑ +26.0
vs 118th (50.8)
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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
4.7
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.9
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$227,200
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
7.2
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
9.8
/ 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
0.0
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
9.3
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
5.6
/ 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
6.2
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$4,994 direct
NORPAC
$200 direct
REPUBLICAN JEWISH COALITION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (RJC-PAC)
$21 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $207.16M 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 — $414K.
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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 | 49.8 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 73.9 | Highly exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 50.8 | Moderately exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 76.8 | Highly exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FOR AMERICA
Total money from this network
$46,000
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
SOUTH DAKOTA CONSERVATIVE PAC
Share from this one network
11.5%
Amount from this network
$227,200
Total from all networks
$1,980,015
Networks contributing
322
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Who funds Rounds
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$1,051,721
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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
97.7%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
0.0%
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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
7
Money that arrived near votes
$41K
Distinct donors
19
Distinct employers
6
Share of their total fundraising
9.65%
Biggest clusters of timed money
JANE STREET
$13K
BLACKSTONE
$7K
FISHER INVESTMENTS
$7K
FOUNDERS FUND
$7K
HOGAN LOVELLS US LLP
$4K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$2K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$1K
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
GOOGLE
$56K
APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT
$34K
MARQUIS MANAGEMENT
$30K
APOLLO
$23K
HOMEMAKER
$21K
1ST FINANCIAL BANK
$20K
APOLLO MGMT
$20K
CAROLYN ROWAN COLLECTION
$20K
ROCKET MORTGAGE
$19K
SANFORD HEALTH
$19K
COBURN TECHNOLOGIES
$16K
ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ A16Z
$14K
BUSINESS OWNER
$14K
STARKEY LABS
$14K
JANE STREET
$13K
CEO
$10K
FISHER INVESTMENTS
$10K
PLANO 6500
$10K
FREEDOM
$10K
IHS TOWERS
$10K
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Mike Rounds comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
By funding network
SOUTH DAKOTA CONSERVATIVE PAC
$227K
THE LINCOLN PROJECT
$15K
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FUND INC.
$1K
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$862
HUNTER ACTION FUND (HAF)
$506
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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.
108 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $144K to Mike Rounds across 127 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$144K
Shared contributors
108
Contributions
127
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1 | 9 | $212 |
| 2024 | 4 | 8 | $21K |
| 2026 | 104 | 110 | $123K |
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Revolving Door
5 former staff members
who worked for Mike Rounds or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TAYLOR REAVES | Counsel & Legislative Assistant for Congressman Nehls; Legislative assistant for… | PORTER WRIGHT MORRIS & ARTHUR LLP | 4 | 11 | 2024–2025 |
| JOSH JORGENSEN | Former Health Legislative Aide to Senator Mike Rounds (R-SD). | NATIONAL RURAL HEALTH ASSOCATION | 1 | 1 | 2023–2023 |
| AISLING REDMOND | Legislative Correspondent, Senator Mike Rounds | FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES | 1 | 3 | 2023–2023 |
| LIAM MACDONALD | Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD)Legislative Assistant; April 11, 2022-April 11, 2024 Rep.… | GSK (FKA GLAXOSMITHKLINE INC.) | 1 | 1 | 2024–2024 |
| HILARY HALPERN | Operations manager/Policy staff for Senator Rounds | ROCKET LP FKA RKT HOLDINGS | 1 | 3 | 2024–2024 |
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Mike Rounds'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