Here are the Top 10 States That Donate the Most to Presidential Campaigns

You know what we haven’t done in a while? A "top whatever" list (admit it, you love these things).

Let's examine something that involves both money (because that's what I do) and the upcoming election (because that's what you want). Let's look at all 50 states (and the District of Columbia) and see who -- on a per-household basis -- has donated the most to presidential campaigns in 2012.

Now, although larger and more economically robust states like New York and Texas have donated massive amounts of cash this election cycle, they don’t crack the top five.

"[W]hen the data is mined to determine which states are the largest donors on a per-household basis … the picture changes significantly [emphasis added]," CNBC.com explains. "On that score, states with small populations and scant Electoral College votes are among the largest donors when the data is calculated."

By using data from the Federal Election Commission, CNBC.com has put together the following list of the states that have donated the most to presidential campaigns in 2012, based on number of households. The number of households per state is based on U.S. Census Bureau data.

"Total statewide political contributions include total private donations of $200 or more. On that basis, if a single donor contributed one dollar 200 times, the aggregate sum made the cut. Meanwhile, a donor who made a single contribution of $199 wasn’t counted," the report adds.

Here are the top 5 states that donate the most to presidential campaigns [all block quotes via CNBC.com]:

Connecticut

Contribution per household: $7.00

Total political contributions statewide: $9,521,770

Total number of households statewide: 1,358,809

Connecticut is a state with deep ties to the financial sector, due to its proximity to Wall Street, its wealth of insurance companies and its hedge funds. Although it is a traditionally blue state, donations to Republican candidates were much greater than those given to the Democrats. Republican candidates received a total of $6,056,800 from the state, while the Democrats managed to scrape up $3,447,680, only a little more than half the amount donated to the competition.

Massachusetts

Contribution per household: $7.09

Total political contributions statewide: $17,878,370

Total number of households statewide: 2,520,419

A traditionally liberal state, Massachusetts has been a Democratic Party stronghold for years, despite electing the occasional Republican senator or governor. Of the $17,878,370 in presidential contributions made in the state in 2012, $11,111,345 went to the Democrats and $6,744,857 went to Republican candidates, in particular its former governor, Mitt Romney.

Utah

Contribution per household: $7.25

Total political contributions statewide: $6,379,445

Total number of households statewide: 880,025

Desert-bound Utah has a relatively low number of households but still made it to the third slot in terms of political contributions, with the majority of donations going to Republican candidates.
According to the FEC data, President Obama received $868,565, whereas Republicans hauled in approximately $5.5 million, with Romney received $4.8 million from donors.

Illinois

Contribution per household: $8.46

Total political contributions statewide: $40,198,120

Total number of households statewide: 4,752,857

In Illinois, Chicago, the third-largest city in America, plays a key role in ratcheting up the number of households in this populous state. The breakdown of donations to presidential campaigns in this Midwestern capital skew heavily Democratic, with approximately $32.1 million going to the Obama campaign and approximately $8 million to Republicans. Of the Republican donations, $5.713 million went to Romney.

District of Columbia

Contribution per household: $32.18

Total political contributions statewide: $8,122,739

Total number of households statewide: 252,388

The district that’s home to the nation’s capital has a minimal population which is maximally involved in politics, so it’s no surprise that it tops off this list. The most allocations by far went to Obama, with a breakdown of about $6.4 million to him and about $1.7 million to Republicans candidates. Of the Republicans, $1.406 million went to Romney, and $93,773 to D.C.’s own Jon Huntsman.

Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

See the full list here: States That Donate the Most to Presidential Campaigns

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