Tom Cole
Republican
· OK-4 · 118th Congress
House Committee on Appropriations (Chair) · Health and Human Services (Chair) · and Related Agencies (Chair) · House Committee on Rules (Chair)
Influence Score
79.5
Most exposed
↑ +3.4
vs 118th (79.5)
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This score measures financial influence across twelve categories. Each bar shows how this member compares to all others in Congress. Longer bars mean more exposure.
Score breakdown — twelve categories
Contributionsmoney from PACs (political action committees) and individual donors
5.4
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
1.5
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$552,539
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
6.9
/ 10
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
9.5
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
4.9
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
0.0
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
11.6
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
10.0
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
6.5
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
5.1
/ 12
Israel-policy PACs behind this score
AMERICAN ISRAEL PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$10,000 direct
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $181.35M in lobbying from FARA-registered firms representing South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia. This exposure is weighted at 0.2% of face value in the score — $363K.
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Score across four congresses
Score and tier for each Congress. Members are ranked against others in the same Congress, so tiers are comparable across rows. Raw scores reflect different data availability per Congress.
| Congress | Score | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| 116th · 2019-2021 | 51.5 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 53.8 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 79.5 | Most exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 82.9 | Highly exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Total money from this network
$788,032
Number of funding networks contributing
1
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Where most of the money comes from
What share of their combined contributions and outside spending comes from a single network. Party committees are excluded.
Network
AMERICANS 4 SECURITY PAC
Share from this one network
9.7%
Amount from this network
$500,000
Total from all networks
$5,131,752
Networks contributing
659
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Who funds Cole
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$1,503,837
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Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
91.7%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
98.6%
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Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
51
Money that arrived near votes
$130K
Distinct donors
77
Distinct employers
39
Share of their total fundraising
4.28%
Biggest clusters of timed money
GENERAL DYNAMICS
$8K
ARVEST BANK
$7K
BLACKSTONE
$7K
BLACKSTONE
$7K
FISHER INVESTMENTS
$7K
KKR
$7K
OAKTREE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
$7K
DUANE MORRIS LLP
$5K
AUSTIN REGIONAL CLINIC
$3K
BANK OF OKLAHOMA
$3K
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$6.69M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.43M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.33M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$5.67M
BOEING
$4.41M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$3.79M
BOEING
$3.61M
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
$3.45M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.33M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.18M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$3.02M
EY
$3.01M
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
$2.97M
CHARTER
$2.65M
HARRIS
$2.32M
INFORMATION REQUESTED PER BEST EFFORTS
$2.25M
GENERAL MOTORS
$2.24M
UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES
$2.16M
COMCAST CC OF WILLOW GROVE
$2.07M
RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES
$2.06M
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Tom Cole comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
By funding network
AMERICANS 4 SECURITY PAC
$256K
FAIRSHAKE
$211K
EARN INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS
$48K
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS CONGRESSIONAL FUND
$25K
REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP FUND INC.
$5K
VAN SCOYOC ASSOCIATES, INC. PAC
$3K
PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH PAC
$2K
HUNTER ACTION FUND (HAF)
$1K
OKLAHOMA VICTORY COMMITTEE
$1K
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$861
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Pro-Israel network donors
This counts contributions to this member from individuals whose FEC filings also show contributions to one of the 16 pro-Israel political action committees tracked by the Index. It is a measure of donor overlap — not a claim about why any individual gave, and not part of the influence score.
34 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $46K to Tom Cole across 35 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$46K
Shared contributors
34
Contributions
35
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 16 | 16 | $23K |
| 2024 | 18 | 18 | $23K |
| 2026 | 1 | 1 | $300 |
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Revolving Door
7 former staff members
who worked for Tom Cole or the committees they serve are now registered lobbyists.
| Lobbyist | Former position | Firm | Clients | Filings | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MARIA BOWIE | Representative Tom Cole, Deputy Chief of Staff and Appropriations Associate Repr… | STRATEGIC MARKETING INNOVATIONS | 21 | 156 | 2023–2025 |
| CHRISTOPHER CARON | LD, Senior Policy Advisor, Deputy Chief of Staff, Rep. Tom Cole (OK-4) | OCULUS STRATEGIES, LLC | 18 | 129 | 2023–2025 |
| PETE KIRKHAM | Chief of staff, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) | RED MAPLE CONSULTING, LLC | 9 | 74 | 2024–2025 |
| ROBERT POWELL | Field Representative, Rep. Tom Cole 2010-2011 | NORTH BRIDGE STRATEGIC, LLC (FORMERLY KNOWN AS SCISSORTAIL STRATEGIC CONSULTING PARTNERS LLC) | 8 | 40 | 2024–2025 |
| ROBERT POWELL | Field Representative 2010-2011, Rep. Tom Cole | CSS PARTNERS, LLC | 2 | 25 | 2023–2025 |
| MARK CRUZ | Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, US Dept of the Interior… | GALLATIN PUBLIC AFFAIRS | 2 | 8 | 2024–2024 |
| SHANE HAND | Legislative Director, Representative Tom Cole | AMERICA'S HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS, INC. (AHIP) | 1 | 1 | 2024–2024 |
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Tom Cole ranks among the most exposed members of this Congress — the top tier on the index. The markers run across several of the twelve categories for the same funding network: contributions, outside spending, lobbying inside the policy areas this member regulates, vote alignment, and contribution timing among them. The score measures financial exposure in the public record; it is not a finding of intent or wrongdoing.
Data: FEC (Federal Election Commission) filings · 118th–119th Congress · lobbying disclosures · VoteView recorded votes
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required
All findings derived programmatically from public records · No prior knowledge required