Final tally: Trucking gave $160k to Trump campaign, $6.3M overall in political contributions

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President-elect Donald Trump received more than $160,000 from the trucking industry in the 2016 cycle — second to Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).President-elect Donald Trump received more than $160,000 from the trucking industry in the 2016 cycle — second to Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).

As an update to the figures published by Overdrive last month regarding trucking contributions to the 2016 election cycle, trucking industry political contributors gave $6.32 million to political campaigns this election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Trucking donations heavily favored Republicans, who received 82 percent of the industry’s contributions — $4.89 million. Democrats received $1.03 million from the trucking industry.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) was the industry’s top recipient, scoring more than $169,000. President-elect Donald Trump was second, drawing $161,703. Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton ranked third, receiving $114,256.

As noted in prior Overdrive coverage, Trump’s trucking-sourced donations lagged well behind Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s 2012 draw of $1 million from the industry and 2008 nominee John McCain’s $375,000.

The total $6.32 million from trucking contributors in 2016 is $1.5 million less than mid-term election donations ($7.87 million) from the industry in 2014 and $3.5 million less than the 2012 presidential election cycle’s $9.98 million. However, it’s a tad more than the $5.9 million given in the 2008 election cycle.

Below is a list of some of the industry’s top campaign contribution recipients, as well as some of the industry’s top political contributors:

Recipients:

Sen. Ted Cruz: $169,674

Donald Trump: $161,703

Hillary Clinton: $114,256

Rep. Jeff Denham: $111,850

Rep. Bill Shuster: $113,750

Sen. Bernie Sanders: $75,886

Rep. Sam Graves: $71,952

Sen. John Thune: $68,750

Sen. Ron Johnson: $64,873

Sen. Marco Rubio: $63,465

Jeb Bush: $61,470

John Kasich: $60,150

Ben Carson: $56,985

Paul Ryan: $51,265

Contributors:

American Trucking Associations: $621,450

Prime Inc: $270,768

Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association: $256,750

Werner Enterprises: $212,389

CenTra Inc: $186,935

Penske: $185,015

Crete Carrier Corp: $184,570

National Tank Truck Carriers: $175,500

Oshkosh Corp: $169,125

Anderson Trucking Services: $152,150

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Old Dominion: $150,132

Schneider National: $116,348

Ruan Companies: $102,850

Paccar Inc: $86,013

Swift Transportation: $81,734

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