Employees at major U.S. tech companies are strongly supporting Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, according to donation data, even as several prominent tech billionaires are backing Republican challenger Donald Trump.
Employees from Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft have contributed millions of dollars to Harris’s campaign, with their donations significantly surpassing those given to Trump by employees of these companies. This data, compiled by political watchdog OpenSecrets, encompasses contributions from company employees, their families, and business owners.
Harris supporters Vs Trump supporters
In contrast, tech billionaires such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Andreessen Horowitz co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz are backing Trump. They have cited Trump’s policies on the economy, taxes, and business as reasons for their support.
The presidential election on November 5 has highlighted a rift within Silicon Valley, which has traditionally been a stronghold of Democratic and liberal support. Notable venture capitalist Reid Hoffman of Greylock and entrepreneur Mark Cuban are supporting Harris’s campaign, hoping for increased abortion rights and favorable tech policies.
In recent years, however, several tech leaders have expressed dissatisfaction with Democratic President Joe Biden’s business policies, particularly regarding his approach to mergers and acquisitions and data privacy regulations.
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Tech employees largely supporting Harris
Campaign finance laws prohibit companies from making direct contributions to federal campaigns, including presidential races. Instead, corporations often use political action committees to donate to congressional and state-level campaigns, which are funded by employee contributions and have limits on how much candidates can receive.
Michael Beckel, research director at the campaign finance reform nonprofit Issue One, noted that many businesses avoid making partisan contributions to avoid alienating customers. While corporations cannot directly donate to presidential candidates, their employees can, and tech employees are largely supporting Harris.
So far, Alphabet employees and their families, including those from Google, have donated $2.16 million to Harris’s campaign, nearly 40 times the amount received by Trump. Employees and family members of Amazon and Microsoft have donated $1 million and $1.1 million respectively, while Trump’s campaign has received $116,000 from Amazon workers and $88,000 from Microsoft workers and their families.
Amazon employees leading the donation charts
Amazon employees, being part of a leading U.S. retailer and the second-largest employer in the country, are contributing more than other retail workers. For instance, Walmart employees have donated $275,000 in total to both Harris and Trump, with Trump’s campaign receiving $144,000 from Walmart workers, about $14,000 more than Harris.
Sarah Bryner, director of research and strategy for OpenSecrets, explained that campaign donations primarily come from corporate employees with higher disposable incomes than typical warehouse or cashier workers. She pointed out that Amazon’s corporate employees earn more on average compared to Walmart’s corporate workers, allowing them more flexibility to contribute to political campaigns. Amazon’s U.S. corporate employees have an average annual salary of $133,000, compared to $85,000 for Walmart’s corporate employees, according to ZipRecruiter.
While Meta and Apple employees and their families have not yet reached the $1 million mark in donations to Harris, their contributions continue to surpass those made to Trump. Meta employees have donated $25,000 to Trump versus $835,000 to Harris, while Apple employees have given $44,000 to Trump and $861,000 to Harris.
Historically, Silicon Valley has been perceived as leaning left politically. In August, over 100 venture capitalists expressed their support for Harris, recognizing her as pro-innovation in business and technology.
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