Where the money comes from
Every cash donation to a Democratic or Republican candidate since 2023 that was reported with the donor's name and ZIP — $73.5M of it — rising from where it came from. Taller bars mean more dollars; blue went to Democrats, red to Republicans. Drag to orbit, hover any bar, or press Play for the guided tour.
Where this committee's money comes from — not a trace of the specific dollars it gave (money is fungible).
Where it comes from, by state
- Iowa $57.7M
- District of Columbia $5.8M
- Florida $3.2M
- California $2.4M
- Illinois $1.5M
- Texas $1.1M
- New York $1.1M
- South Dakota $0.7M
- Wisconsin $0.7M
- Minnesota $0.6M
- Tennessee $0.4M
- Indiana $0.3M
What's on this map, and what isn't
- $73.5M — drawn on the map (72%)
- $5.5M — counted here, but the donor's ZIP can't be placed (5%)
- $102k — ZIP clusters under $50, too small to draw (0%)
- $725k — interest campaigns' own bank accounts earned — filed under the bank's name, income rather than a donation, so it's excluded from the map (1%)
- $22.1M — reported by the candidate, but Iowa never lists these donors one by one — gifts of $25 or less, plus filings not yet itemized (22%)
How to read this
What's on the map. Every cash donation to a Democratic or Republican candidate reported with the donor's name and ZIP, rising from where it came from and flowing to the Capitol. Taller bars and bigger streams mean more dollars; color is the party that received it. The map places $73.5M of the $79.1M such donations — $5.5M lacks a usable ZIP, so it counts in the figures but isn't drawn. Money to everyone else on the ballot and in the system — PACs, party committees, ballot-issue and local committees, and third-party candidates — is a further $64.2M that this map does not show; the money page covers those.
Cash only, on purpose. These same candidates also received $18.4M that isn't a donation and isn't on this map: $15.5M in donated goods and services — campaign staff, mail, polling — and $2.9M in loans candidates made to their own campaigns, which is their own money, not anyone's gift. The in-kind figure matters most for the parties: $14.1M of the two state party committees' support to their candidates arrives as goods and services rather than checks, so a cash map alone would make party help look far smaller than it is.
Two very different streams feed Iowa campaigns. Individuals give small — out-of-state gifts average about $150 — and that money leans Democratic. PACs, parties and other groups write far bigger checks, and that money leans Republican: $18.9M to Republicans vs. $6.4M to Democrats. Of the money the map can place, in-state is the bulk — $52.9M of it vs. $20.6M from beyond Iowa. One caveat the map makes honest: an individual's dot is their real home, but a PAC's dot is its registered address (often Des Moines or D.C.) — so institutional money clusters where committees incorporate, not where its donors live. Where a committee also files federally, we name the corporation or union behind the PAC from FEC records — open the Sponsors (FEC) view above.