Maloney is frequently found back home, working with many local businesses, organizations, and community groups in the district. Since his district crosses into four different counties, each with a different view, Maloney is considered to be a more conservative Democrat and actually ran as a Moderate in the 2012 election. In the New York delegation, Maloney is said to be the 10th most conservative representative based on the bills and resolutions he cosponsors (GovTrack). The graph below from GovTrack represents the number of bills Maloney has sponsored and cosponsored in the 114th Congress and shows that Maloney falls ideologically closer to the center than some of his coworkers.
This can be seen in the way Maloney votes as well, tending to vote across party lines on some issues. Maloney is also considered to be in the highest 10% among House Democrats for writing bipartisan bills and in top 15% among all representatives for joining bipartisan bills (GovTrack). For example, on the vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline, legislation heavily backed by the House Republicans, Maloney was one of 28 Democrats that voted with Republicans in favor of authorizing the construction of the pipeline (VoteSmart). Maloney has stated that his vote had to do with the fact that oil shipments pass through the Hudson Valley on their way to and from refineries in Canada and that the Valley currently lacks necessary pipeline infrastructure, which the legislation would help create and control. This statement seems to be Maloney's primary reason for voting this way since he does not receive many donations from the energy and natural resource sector, with Oil & Gas only contributing $1,000 (OpenSecrets). It is also important to consider that Maloney's Environment America rating is 80% as well, even though he voted for something that is considered to be unfriendly to the environment (VoteSmart). Maloney has also recently voted to pass legislation to adapt to changing crude oil market conditions, a vote that went against party lines. It is interesting to point out that both votes against party lines mentioned above concerned legislation regarding oil and gas, yet Maloney does not receive large sums of donations from this sector.
In the 2014 congressional race, Maloney raised $4,256,016 and spent $4,161,436, more than his opponent Nan Hayworth (OpenSecrets). However, the question arises: where does Representative Maloney's campaign receive this money? Obviously, it is not from Oil & Gas, as mentioned above. The number one industry contributing to Sean Maloney's campaign in 2014 were lawyers and law firms, then followed by securities & investment, leadership PACs, real estate, and the retired (OpenSecrets). These five industries alone gave $1,372,645, which is about 30% of the money raised. The top five contributors the 2014 race were Willkie, Farr & Gallagher, Kirkland & Ellis, Goldman Sachs, New York Life Insurance, and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund (ibid). The first two contributors are both law firms and the second pair of two are both involved in investments. The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund provides financial and campaign support LGBT political candidates. While Maloney does not serve on any committees that deals with law, he did previously work in a equity firm as an attorney, which explains the backing of law firms and investment firms, the top two contributing industries to his 2014 race.
Representative Maloney will be running again for office in 2016, running against two former candidates for New York Assembly, Sakima Brown and Dan Castricone - both Republicans (NYStateofPolitics). So far, the Maloney campain has raised $1,581,783 and has spent $497,906. They also have $1,179,840 on hand (OpenSecrets). The top five contributors so far have been Sullivan & Cromwell (law firm), MacAndrews & Forbes (investments), Goldman Sachs (investments), Chieftain Capital Management (investments), and Paul Weiss et al (international firm) and the top five industries are securities & investment, lawyers and law firms, the retired, real estate, and leadership PACs, the same top five industries from the previous race.
So, while I believe that money influences a lot of decisions, whether you are in Congress or not, it seems that Representative Sean Patrick Maloney does not make legislative decisions based on the donations to his campaign. Rather, the donations come from industries and contributors that Maloney was involved in prior to his legislative career.
Sources:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/report-cards/2014/house-state-delegation-ny/ideology
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/sean_maloney/412562
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/sean_maloney/412562/report-card/2014
http://votesmart.org/bill/19354/50797/139760/keystone-xl-pipeline-act
https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/pacs.php?cycle=2014&cid=N00034277§or=E&seclong=Energy+%26+Natural+Resources&newMem=N
http://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/139760/sean-maloney/30
https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/elections.php?cycle=2014&cid=N00034277&type=I
https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cycle=2014&type=I&cid=N00034277&newMem=N
http://www.nystateofpolitics.com/2015/10/two-file-to-run-against-rep-sean-patrick-maloney/
https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cycle=2016&type=I&cid=N00034277&newMem=N
1 comment:
It's interesting that the main industry contributing to Maloney's campaign is lawyers & law firms, which I feel that one does not always think of in the same way that we would think of energy, oil/gas, healthcare, etc. For example, in my district, Charlie Dent is heavily persuaded by the energy and healtcare industry presence; is there, perhaps, an unusally large presence of lawyers and law firms in your district? If so, then it would be interesting to see if any of Maloney's legislative decisions particuarly benefit this industry. If not, then, as you argue, maybe Maloney really doesn't pander to those who contribute most to his campaign.
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