Steve Daines
Republican
· MT Senate · 116th Congress
Senate Committee on Appropriations · and Related Agencies · Foreign Operations · and Related Programs · Housing and Urban Development · Senate Committee on Banking · and Urban Affairs · and Community Development · Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · and Mining · Senate Committee on Finance · Natural Resources · and Infrastructure · and Global Competitiveness · Senate Committee on Foreign Relations · South Asia · Central Asia · and Counterterrorism · Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Influence Score
60.7
Moderately exposed
— ◊ —
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
5.2
/ 12
Outside spendingmoney spent by groups to help elect them
6.0
/ 6
Spent to help elect them
$15,564,020
Outside groups that spent to help elect this member — this drives the outside-spending bar above
Spent to defeat this member
$862
Outside groups that spent to defeat this member (not counted in this score)
Lobbyinghow hard lobbyists push the committees this member sits on
7.9
/ 10
Revolving door
former staff now working as lobbyists
1.0
/ 3
Vote alignmenthow often they vote the way their donors want
0.0
/ 12
Contribution timingmoney arriving near key votes
6.0
/ 6
Stock tradesbuying stocks in industries they regulate
0.0
/ 1
Dark moneyfunding from groups that hide their donors
< 0.1
/ 2
Outbound money distributionmoney this member sends out to the party and to colleagues
8.5
/ 16
Cluster network breadthhow many coordinated funding networks back this member
0.1
/ 10
Committee jurisdiction powerthe legislative reach of the committees this member sits on
8.7
/ 10
Foreign interestforeign-interest money — Israel-policy PACs and FARA-registered institutional lobbying allocated by committee jurisdiction
5.1
/ 12
FARA institutional lobbying
This member’s committees are targeted by $70.63M 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 — $141K.
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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 | 60.7 | Moderately exposed |
| 117th · 2021-2023 | 67.5 | Highly exposed |
| 118th · 2023-2025 | 32.6 | Least exposed |
| 119th · 2025-2027 | 70.8 | Moderately exposed |
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Biggest funding source
The single network behind the most money and influence
Network
DEMOCRACY PAC
Total money from this network
$11,841,412
Number of funding networks contributing
1
— ◊ —
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
WINRED
Share from this one network
2.3%
Amount from this network
$58,504
Total from all networks
$2,501,231
Networks contributing
506
— ◊ —
Who funds Daines
Every funding network we can measure, ranked by influence
$16,481,599
— ◊ —
Does the money match their power?
Whether their money comes from the industries their committees actually oversee
Money from industries they regulate
3.3%
Extra weight when money matches their committees
2.00×
Share of outside spending tied to their policy areas
1.0%
— ◊ —
Money timed to key votes
Donations arriving near key votes in the policy areas this member regulates
Times money arrived near a vote
7
Money that arrived near votes
$27K
Distinct donors
10
Distinct employers
5
Share of their total fundraising
2.23%
Biggest clusters of timed money
APOLLO MANAGEMENT
$7K
ELLIOTT MANAGEMENT
$7K
PRESCOTT INVESTORS
$7K
CVS HEALTH
$2K
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL
$2K
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL
$1K
NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL
$1K
BOYLE INVESTMENT
$500
HORIZON BANK
$25
HORIZON BANK
$25
— ◊ —
Top Donors
Biggest sources of contributions, grouped by employer, this cycle
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$6.43M
HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL
$3.79M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.31M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$3.12M
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION
$3.02M
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
$2.92M
THE ELEVANCE HEALTH COMPANIES
$2.53M
CHARTER
$2.51M
BOEING
$2.05M
UNITED HEALTHCARE SERVICES
$1.93M
LOCKHEED MARTIN
$1.87M
GLOBAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT
$1.86M
NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE
$1.86M
BNSF RAILWAY
$1.84M
ELI LILLY AND
$1.80M
UP RAILROAD
$1.70M
VALERO SERVICES
$1.69M
PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS LLP
$1.68M
DELOITTE TOUCHE LLP
$1.55M
ERNST YOUNG U S LLP
$1.53M
Where the outside money comes from
How much of the outside spending for and against Steve Daines comes from groups that disclose their donors versus groups that hide them
Total outside spending received
$5K
Disclosed outside spending
$3K
Dark-money outside spending
$2K
Share that is dark money
39.80%
Dark money tied to their policy areas
$0
Groups hiding their donors
1
By funding network
DSCC
$18.42M
SMP
$16.76M
AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY ACTION, INC. (AFP ACTION) DBA CVA ACTION AND DBA LIBRE ACTION
$5.25M
LCV VICTORY FUND
$4.25M
MONTANA HUNTERS AND ANGLERS LEADERSHIP FUND
$1.96M
EDF ACTION VOTES
$1.50M
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS CONGRESSIONAL FUND
$1.33M
VOTE FOR EQUALITY
$916K
SENATE CONSERVATIVES ACTION
$893K
NRDC ACTION VOTES
$495K
UA UNION PLUMBERS & PIPEFITTERS VOTE! PAC (UNITED ASSOCIATION OF JOURNEYMEN AND APPRENTICES OF THE PLUMBING & PIPEFITTING INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA)
$467K
SPIRIT OF DEMOCRACY AMERICA
$300K
DEMOCRACY PAC
$257K
VOTEVETS
$243K
CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION
$186K
Groups that hide their donors
Likely donors behind the dark money supporting this member
Inferred
Donors who fund the disclosed PACs in the same network as the hidden groups above. "Coverage" is how many of that network's disclosed groups a donor funds — the more they fund, the more likely they also back the hidden group.
NEVADANS FOR STEVEN HORSFORD
$80K
TITUS FOR CONGRESS
$80K
SUSIE LEE FOR CONGRESS
$79K
GEORGE SOROS
$525.74M
SMP
$81.00M
BLACKPAC
$47.25M
AB PAC
$25.50M
HMP
$15.00M
HOUSE MAJORITY PAC
$15.00M
CARE IN ACTION PAC
$6.60M
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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.
194 individuals who also gave to pro-Israel PACs contributed $367K to Steve Daines across 234 contributions.
Total from shared contributors
$367K
Shared contributors
194
Contributions
234
By cycle
| Cycle | Shared donors | Gifts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4 | 5 | $4K |
| 2024 | 5 | 7 | $17K |
| 2026 | 185 | 222 | $347K |
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Steve Daines sits in the middle of this Congress on the index. There is a measured sponsor relationship, but the vote-alignment signal is weaker — money flows; the votes do not follow in lockstep.
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