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MAJOR FINDINGS
All the major 2004 presidential
candidates raised the bulk of their individual contributions
of more than $200 from majority non-Hispanic white neighborhoods;
however, the two African American candidates, former
Sen. Moseley Braun and Rev. Al Sharpton, collected a
signifi cantly smaller percentage of their contributions from
such neighborhoods. President Bush
raised the most money, 91.7%, from majority non-Hispanic white
neighborhoods, while Democratic
nominee Sen. Kerry raised 89.3% of his contributions from such
neighborhoods. In contrast, Sen. Moseley Braun raised
62.5% of her contributions from majority non-Hispanic white neighborhoods,
while Rev. Sharpton raised 63.8% of his contributions from these
neighborhoods. Overall, Democratic
candidates collected 88.6% of their contributions from majority
non-Hispanic white neighborhoods.
The contrast between the top contributing
zip codes and those with the highest proportion
of people of color for President Bush and Sen. Kerry was extreme,
particularly compared to Sen. Mosley Braun and Rev.
Sharpton. President Bush collected 537
times more cash from top contributing zip codes than
from zip codes with the highest percentage of people of color nationwide,
and Sen. Kerry 452 times as much. In contrast, Sen. Moseley Braun
collected six times more cash
from top contributing zip codes versus those with the highest percentage
of people of color, and
Rev. Sharpton two times as much. For these two candidates, so much
more reliant on a funding
base in racial/ethnic minority communities, failure to sway donors
in wealthy, non-Hispanic white
neighborhoods meant that they were at a severe disadvantage in
the “wealth primary,” in which the candidate who raises
the most cash is considered the most “viable.”
Senator
Joe Lieberman (D-CT) raised the highest percentage of cash from
wealthy
neighborhoods while Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) raised
the least from such
neighborhoods.7 Sen. Lieberman raised 67.7% of his campaign contributions
over $200 from
wealthy neighborhoods, while Rep. Kucinich collected 32.9%
from such areas. Slightly more than half of President Bush’s contributions come from wealthy
neighborhoods, while 57.8% of Sen.
Kerry’s contributions do.
The top contributing zip code to
all presidential campaigns—including
both the Bush and Kerry campaigns—was 10021, on Manhattan’s
exclusive Upper East Side, which was the source
of $4.2 million. President Bush and Sen. Kerry collected
71% of this amount, $1.3 and $1.7 million
respectively. Some 86.4% of the zip code’s 91,514 adult residents
are non-Hispanic white, and nearly
40% of the households enjoy incomes of $100,000 or more. In contrast,
the zip code 10035, just a
few miles away in Harlem, was the source of just $1,000 and $2,750,
respectively, for Sen. Edwards
and Sen. Kerry.
The zip code 10021 was also the number one source
of contributions for General Wesley Clark, Sen. Joe
Lieberman, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, Representative
Richard A. Gephardt
(D-MO) and Senator John Edwards (D-NC).
This one zip code, home
to just 91,514 adults, was the source of more campaign cash for presidential campaigns than:
- 377 zip codes nationwide with the largest percentage of African
Americans, containing a
total of 6.9 million people ages 18 and over, 75 times more
people than live in 10021;
- 365 zip codes nationwide with
the largest percentage of Latino Americans, containing a
total of 8.1 million people ages 18 and over, 89 times more
people than live in 10021;
- 123 zip codes nationwide
with the largest percentage of Asian Pacifi c Americans,
containing a total of 2.8 million people ages 18 and
over, 30 times more people than live in
10021.
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