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NewDemPac, the New Democrats political action committee, has been more active than usual over the past two years. It has already raised $2.7 million this cycle---the most in its history. That money has flowed to the PAC from a long list of corporate supporters, including Humana, UnitedHealth, CVS Health and Pfizer. The DCCC is the largest individual recipient of money from NewDemPac.The PAC also has donated $580,000 to 105 different candidates for the House in the last cycle. The NDC's chairman, Rep. Jim Hines (D-Ct.), has collected $600,000 from the industry in his career and $86,000 in the 2018 cycle.
"Do these financial contributions matter? Yes, very much," Gaffney said. "These industries would not spend this money for no reason."
Publicly, some party leaders have argued that a national health care plan is a losing issue in the general election, but advocates are not convinced.
"I am skeptical that Democrats are really worried 'Medicare for all' is an election loser," said Gaffney. "We have heard this argument before. It certainly didn't pan out in 2016. I think single-payer can be a winning issue and we are starting to see Ocasio-Cortez and others win on the issue. I expect this shift to continue and the old guard will continue to resist it."
Campaign finance data in this article is based on the latest numbers available from the Center for Responsive Politics at the time of writing, unless otherwise stated.
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