Across the technology landscape, Democrats have a huge fundraising advantage in the midterm elections when it comes to where employees are putting their money. But the edge over Republicans is particularly striking at two Silicon Valley companies: Netflix and Apple.
As of the end of September, Netflix employees had contributed $190,592 to Democrats this cycle, compared to just $1,350 to Republicans, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). That’s a ratio of 141 to 1. The ratio at Apple is 27 to 1, with Democrats receiving $737,003 versus $27,005 for Republicans.
Apple and Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.
Among the 15 most valuable U.S. tech companies, 10 of which reside in the Bay Area, employees have sent $9.1 million to Democrats and $3.2 million to Republicans — a ratio of 2.8 to 1, according to CRP data. The figures include individual donations to candidates, which max out at $2,700 per candidate, and exclude much larger contributions to political action committees and party groups.
At Netflix, the Democratic slant starts at the top. Co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings has contributed to several Democratic candidates, including Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents a good chunk of Silicon Valley, and Sen. Tim Kaine, who is trying to defend his seat in Virginia.
Hastings has long been a major donor to Democrats and earlier this year contributed $500,000 to the Senate Majority PAC, which says on its website that it “was founded by experienced, aggressive Democratic strategists with one mission: To win Senate races.”
In addition to his role at Netflix, Hastings sits on the Facebook board alongside prominent Donald Trump supporter Peter Thiel. Hastings reportedly told Thiel in an email during the 2016 presidential campaign that he had exercised “catastrophically bad judgment” in backing Trump.
Apple CEO Tim Cook is not a big spender in the political realm. His only contribution for the midterms was to Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, whose California district covers part of the South Bay. But Cook, who was among tech executives to meet with Trump after the 2016 election, has been critical of the president’s trade war, telling investors in July that the tariffs are a “tax on the consumer and end up resulting in lower economic growth.”
He’s also slammed Trump’s protectionist views on immigration and called the administration’s detention of children at the border “inhumane.”
Apple employees have been sending plenty of money toward the border. The top recipient of cash from Apple workers is Beto O’Rourke, who’s running to unseat Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in Texas.
While Netflix and Apple have the biggest disparities in terms of contributions to each party, there are other companies where the absolute dollar amount flowing to Democratic candidates is higher. At Google, employees have contributed $2.6 million to Democrats, more than four times the amount they’ve donated to Republicans, and workers at Microsoft have sent $1.2 million to Democrats, and less than half that amount to Republicans.
Of the top 15 tech companies by market cap, only Texas Instruments has seen its employees favor Republicans, and by a very slim margin — $91,789 to $90,859.
