Ron Estes
Republican
· KS-4 · 118th Congress
House Committee on Ways and Means · House Committee on the Budget · Joint Economic Committee
Influence Score
72.2
Highly exposed
↓ -2.2
vs 118th (72.2)
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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
5.0
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
0.3
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$18,877
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
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
0.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
7.8
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
1.5
/ 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
12.8
/ 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
7.1
/ 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 $174.15M 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 — $348K.
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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 | 55.6 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 53.4 | Moderately exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 72.2 | Highly exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 70.0 | Moderately exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FOR AMERICA
Total money from this network
$76,500
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
SPECIAL OPERATIONS FOR AMERICA
Share from this one network
1.7%
Amount from this network
$51,000
Total from all networks
$2,934,594
Networks contributing
418
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Who funds Estes
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$889,335
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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
99.2%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
1.50×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
100.0%
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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
16
Money that arrived near votes
$41K
Distinct donors
21
Distinct employers
13
Share of their total fundraising
2.42%
Biggest clusters of timed money
STRATEGIC FINANCIAL CONCEPTS
$7K
BLACKSTONE
$5K
INTEGRA TECHNOLOGIES
$5K
PEACHEY INSURANCE
$5K
CLARK INVESTMENT
$3K
CLARK INVESTMENT
$3K
MORGAN STANLEY
$2K
OFG FINANCIAL SERVICES
$2K
RYAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES
$2K
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL
$2K
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Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$6.69M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.33M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$5.67M
BOEING
$4.39M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$3.79M
BOEING
$3.61M
NORTHROP GRUMMAN
$3.45M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.33M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.13M
EY
$3.01M
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
$2.92M
COMCAST CC OF WILLOW GROVE
$2.63M
UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES
$2.16M
COMCAST CC OF WILLOW GROVE
$2.07M
RAYTHEON TECHNOLOGIES
$2.06M
BOEING
$2.05M
GLOBAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT
$2.02M
DELTA AIR LINES
$2.02M
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
$2.00M
BNSF RAILWAY
$1.99M
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Ron Estes comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
By funding network
NRCC
$65K
KANSANS FOR LIFE FEDERAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
$28K
SLF PAC
$25K
NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE VICTORY FUND
$4K
EVERYTOWN FOR GUN SAFETY VICTORY FUND (EVERYTOWN VICTORY FUND)
$861
TOGETHER WE THRIVE
$750
KOCH, INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (KOCHPAC)
$19
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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.
94 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $287K to Ron Estes across 156 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$287K
Shared contributors
94
Contributions
156
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 65 | 86 | $98K |
| 2024 | 40 | 58 | $96K |
| 2026 | 11 | 12 | $93K |
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Ron Estes's file shows clear influence markers across multiple categories for the top funding network, placing them in the upper range of this Congress. The pattern runs above what coincidence would produce, and the methodology page documents what each category requires.
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