Heavy Hitters and Big Business Bankroll RAGA

The Republican Attorney Generals Association, which represents conservative state attorneys general and has coordinated attacks on unions, reproductive rights, and consumer protections, received over $6.3 million in the second quarter of 2024, according to tax filings obtained and reviewed by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD).

That’s a significant increase from the $5.3 million RAGA raised in the first quarter of the year. 

Contributions to RAGA help bankroll the group’s independent expenditure campaigns to unseat Democrats and get Republican attorneys general elected instead. This year RAGA has stayed out of the Missouri AG race — where a personal attorney for Donald Trump who represented him in the Supreme Court immunity case is challenging the “archconservative” incumbent — but has plowed money into other races, including backing a progressive candidate in the Democratic primary for AG in North Carolina who RAGA hopes will lose to the Republican candidate in the general election. In Pennsylvania, the “vast differences” between RAGA’s GOP pick and the Democratic contender will be “exploited by RAGA in the coming months through the organization’s largest investment to date” in the state.

Top Second-Quarter RAGA Contributors

1. Leonard Leo’s Concord Fund: $1,000,000. RAGA’s top contributor in the second quarter was The Concord Fund, Leonard Leo’s nonprofit funding vehicle (formerly registered as the Judicial Crisis Network), which donated $1 million. The Concord Fund was also RAGA’s top contributor in the first quarter, as CMD previously reported, and has consistently been a top funder.
2. Bernard Marcus: $500,000. Marcus is the billionaire founder of Home Depot and has been a major donor to all three of Trump’s presidential campaigns.
3. Rule of Law Defense Fund: $456,772. This is RAGA’s 501(c)(4) advocacy arm, which routinely both contributes to RAGA and benefits from the funds it raises.
4. Altria Client Services: $250,000. Altria is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, the tobacco company that in 2006 was found guilty of racketeering for intentionally misleading the public about the health dangers of tobacco products. Altria is a major corporate sponsor of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and has used that pay-to-play organization to directly pitch tobacco industry deregulation to state lawmakers.
5. Ronald Cameron: $250,000 Cameron is the heir to Mountaire Farms, a major poultry company that recently settled a lawsuit over conspiring with other companies to suppress workers’ wages and two years ago was forced to pay one of the country’s highest penalties ever for its environmental violations.
6. Diageo North America: $150,000. This is the parent company of many major liquor brands, including Guinness, Smirnoff, Bulleit, and Captain Morgan. (However, a week and a half after it made its contribution, Diageo was reimbursed the majority of it: $125,000.)
7. DoorDash: $150,000. The food delivery company recently lobbied for a law in Seattle that would reduce the minimum wage for drivers. 

The following companies made contributions of $125,000 each:

• • Amazon. Jeff Bezos’ retail giant has fought unionization efforts at its warehouses and has also donated to the Republican State Legislative Committee.
  • Cooper and Kirk PLLC. Despite a recent Idaho law banning gender-affirming care being ruled unconstitutional, this law firm recently teamed up with the anti-LGBTQ hate group Alliance Defending Freedom to defend the law.
  • CVS Pharmacy. The pharmacy giant has consistently donated to RAGA despite severing ties with the corporate bill-mill ALEC.
  • Elevance Health, Inc. Elevance, formerly known as Anthem, is a major health insurance provider.
  • Home Depot. In 2019, activists called for a boycott of Home Depot because its founder, Bernard Marcus, provides significant financial support to Trump. Marcus is one of RAGA’s largest individual contributors this quarter.
  • PhRMA. The pharmaceutical trade group is predicted to be one of the major beneficiaries of The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a blueprint for reshaping the federal government and other American institutions through a “hardline religious-right agenda” during a potential second Trump administration.
  • S and C Resale Company. This is a subsidiary of JBS, one of the world’s largest meat processing companies.
  • Travelers Indemnity Company. One of the country’s largest insurance companies.

Leading RAGA donors by category:

1. Conservative groups: $1,462,347. These include Leo’s previously-mentioned Concord Fund and RAGA’s advocacy arm the Rule of Law Defense Fund as well as the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (listed under its former name, the Susan B. Anthony List).
2. Individuals: $775,250. Top individual donors include billionaire GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein, as well as the previously-mentioned billionaires Bernard Marcus and Ronald Cameron.
3. Retail: $450,000. Major retail donors include the National Automobile Dealers Association, CVS Pharmacy, Home Depot, Amazon, and the grocery giant Kroger.
4. Law firms: $429,850. More than 21 legal firms donated to RAGA, with contributions ranging from a couple hundred dollars to over $100,000 each.
5. Oil and gas: $420,575. Major oil and gas producers and trade groups including Enbridge, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, and Western Energy Alliance contributed this quarter, with the Canadian-based company Cenovus Energy Inc. giving $100,000, the highest amount. 
6. Pharmaceutical: $340,575. The pharmaceutical trade group PhRMA as well as major companies including Amgen, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, and Novo Nordisk made contributions. 
7. Financial services: $326,000. Donors in the financial sector include banks such as Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase as well as payment service and software companies such as Visa, Intuit, and Ticketmaster. 
8. Food and beverage: $295,000. Most notably, RAGA’s contributors include Smithfield (the meat processor) as well as drink giants Anheuser-Busch and Coca-Cola.
9. Tobacco: $264,800. As previously mentioned, Altria, parent company of Philip Morris USA, was a major contributor.
10. Travel and delivery services: $255,000. These companies include Doordash, Enterprise rentals, and U-Haul.