As women finally begin to gain an economic stronghold in the working world, one that’s affording them actual money to spend (albeit not yet at a fair rate), women’s donations to political campaigns have increased more than ever before. The New York Times reports that women have been responsible for a large portion of political contributions in this election season, from the extremely wealthy super-pacs to the grassroots small donations:
Forty-three percent of all reported contributions to federal candidates for this election have come from women, according to an analysis of Federal Election Commission data by Crowdpac, a political crowdfunding website, higher than any election cycle on record. Women have also provided a fifth of all individual contributions to super PACs for this election, compared with just 1 percent in 2010, the year the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision paved the way for new levels of giving to outside groups.
The Times accounts for this new way women are spending their money because, well, it’s the first time in history we’ve ever had any to give away. And who’s seeing the largest benefit in this rise in women donors? Hillary Clinton. “Close to half of Mrs. Clinton’s ‘bundlers’ — the volunteer fund-raisers who solicit checks from friends and business associates — are women, compared with about a third of President Obama’s 2012 bundlers,” the Times reports. Looks like the woman card does come in handy, after all.
