According to a new study from a liberal think tank, a vast majority of donors to Washington, D.C politicians are wealthy white males.
Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council financially benefit from the “outsized” influence of the District’s wealthiest voters. Demos, a public policy group dedicated to equality, published a report Thursday showing a disproportional influence on political campaigns, given the racial diversity of the city. Sixty-seven percent of all donations to the three candidates in the 2014 mayoral race came from donors who gave over $1,000 in contributions, according to the Demos study.
Donations under $50 in the mayoral race, coming from the small donor class, made up under 2% of all contributions.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Demos Policy Analyst Sean McElwee said in a statement:
Of course donors are much more likely to support policies that reflect their interests. In a city as demographically and economically diverse as Washington, D.C, it is deeply problematic that this small group of people has a much louder voice to shape the city’s policy outcomes.