Donald Trump’s fundraising still lags that of Hillary Clinton, but he has finally embraced the basic necessity of a big-money operation, and the funds are coming in. While the Democratic nominee’s top 500 donors largely come from a few major cities, the Republican’s top funders are more spread out, even if his overall donations come from fewer zip codes.
According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Clinton’s campaign took in $31.2 million from about 14,000 zip codes in July, while Trump’s campaign received $19.6 million from 7,600 zip codes. Nevertheless, and perhaps not surprisingly, the Republican’s donors are more spread out throughout the country, even though the largest donations from both clustered around major cities.
New York City, for example, is neatly divided between the two, noted Wired’s Joanna Pearlstein. The East Side of New York in particular shows strong support for Trump; that is where Trump Tower and the campaign are headquartered. The Trump Tower zip code contributed more than $15,000 to the Republican nominee in July. Across town in the Columbus Circle zip code, however, Clinton took in over $42,000. The Upper West Side is home to more of her supporters, and four zip codes there accounted for nearly $400,000 to Clinton in July.
The ten top zip codes for the Democratic nominee are in three metropolitan areas: New York City (especially on the Upper West Side and Brooklyn Heights), Washington D.C. and the surrounding area, and San Francisco’s two historically liberal neighborhoods: the Mission and the Castro.
Californians contributed $4.3 million to Clinton’s campaign in July, making the Golden State her best for fundraising. The state also ranks third among Trump’s donor network, although he only took $680,000 from there in July.
New York, Texas, and Florida also rank among the states donating the most to each of the presidential candidates. Trump also drew many donors from Georgia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, while Clinton found more support in Virginia, Washington, and Maryland.
Here is a map created by Wired (you can view an interactive version here) showing the top 500 donors to each campaign by their home zip code.
The top 500 donors to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, plotted by zip code. Screenshot from Tableau, organized by Wired.
Next Page: Which states are worst for both candidates?
South Dakotans sent Clinton under $10,000 in July, making that state her worst for fundraising. Vermont, Trump’s worst state, gave the Republican just $6,400 in donations that month. These are not surprising, given that South Dakota is rated highly conservative, and Vermont very liberal (it is the home of Bernie Sanders, after all).
In California, the San Francisco Bay Area has many Clinton donors, but Trump still finds some backers. The liberal West Side of Los Angeles strongly favors the Democrat, but more conservative Orange County hosts many Trump donors. The zip code which is home to Apple CEO Tim Cook (who hosted a fundraiser for Clinton this week and donated to Obama in 2008) gave more than $50,000 to Clinton’s campaign.
In Washington, D.C., the Republican candidate finds most of his support south of the Potomac in Virginia, while Clinton donors hail from the city proper and the Maryland suburbs.
In addition to the July numbers Pearlstein examined, and which Wired used to create the map of the top 500 donors to each campaign, fundraising accounts through June show the states that have given most and least to Trump throughout his campaign.
The Republican candidate actually raised the most money from California through June, taking $1,543,975 from the Golden State. Texas came in second, with $1,426,552, with Florida close behind at $1,403,437. New York State took a distant fourth at $701,664, followed by Georgia ($428,949), Pennsylvania ($363,186), Virginia ($342,437), and the home state of many Trump properties in Atlantic City, New Jersey ($334,869).
Vermont was also Trump’s worst state through June, only giving his campaign $11,016. Then followed Washington, D.C., Maine, North Dakota, and Rhode Island, all of which gave Trump less than $30,000. It seems odd that so few donors supported the Republican from North Dakota, a major flashpoint in the fracking revolution.
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