The big donors to political candidates have largely consisted of men, however, in the past couple presidential elections the role of women donors has grown. They are now donating almost as much as men. There are still more large donations from men (more than $5,000), but there are more women donating smaller amounts, especially for the democrats in the 2008 and 2012 elections. We will show the change in women donors in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and predict the role women’s donations will play in the 2016 election. Considering Hillary draws a lot of the female vote, she may also draw money from these female donors. Bernie Sanders, the most recent 2016 candidate, also drew one of the highest percentages of female donors in his 2012 Senate bid.

Data:
2012 Election
2008 Election

Human sources:
Andrew Polski, American politics Hunter College prof, apolski@hunter.cuny.edu
Charles Tien, women in politics Hunter College prof, ctien@hunter.cuny.edu
Corey Robin, modern political/economic thought CUNY Grad Center prof, corey.robin@gmail.com
Donna Hoffman, University of Northern Iowa, 319-273-5916, donna.hoffman@uni.edu