Insurance Dollars an Electoral Force in South Central States

Congressional candidates from the South Central states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas pulled in big donations from a variety of insurance industry interests in 2008, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan independent research group that tracks contributions in U.S. political elections.

Incumbent Senator John Cornyn, a Republican from Texas, was the regional winner as far as donations from insurance industry. Cornyn, who easily won re-election over his main opponent, Democrat Rick Noriega, received $246,269 in contributions from insurance industry sources. By comparison, Noriega received $10,098 from the industry.

Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor, a Democrat, ranked second in the South Central states in terms of insurance industry contributions, with $112,115 in donations. Texas Republican Representative Ron Paul came in third with $98,091 in contributions from the industry. Both Pryor and Paul were incumbents and won re-election to their posts. Earlier in the year, Paul unsuccessfully sought nomination as the GOP candidate for president.

Nationally, the total contribution from insurance industry sources came to $38.2 million during the 2008 election cycle.

The table below lists U.S. House and Senate candidates from the South Central states who received campaign contributions from insurance industry sources.