Have you ever given a max donation to a local politician? Do they even care after they win?

[Anonymous]

Husband's friend from college is running for a local office. We don't donate to campaigns but this is the first would-be winner that we have a somewhat close relationship with. If we max him out, will he care about us once he wins or it's basically flushing money down the drain? To be clear, I don't mean care as in swing us contracts or anything illicit, just concerns or ideas in general. I guess I'm not sure what to expect, if anything.

[Anonymous]

There are several ways to donate far more than the maximum allowable individual contribution. I’ve never had a problem with anyone returning my phone calls.

[Anonymous]

I did once, but then I realized it’s not even tax deductible. Never again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did once, but then I realized it’s not even tax deductible. Never again.

It used to be. Changed in the late 80s IIRC. My mom held a local office and had to change all the fine print on her campaign brochures etc. when she ran again that time.

[Anonymous]

Politicians care about the loud and whiny people who never go away. Make a big stink on twitter or facebook. Respond to their tweets. Call them out on stuff. They will listen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Husband's friend from college is running for a local office. We don't donate to campaigns but this is the first would-be winner that we have a somewhat close relationship with. If we max him out, will he care about us once he wins or it's basically flushing money down the drain? To be clear, I don't mean care as in swing us contracts or anything illicit, just concerns or ideas in general. I guess I'm not sure what to expect, if anything.

As someone who has made some sizable donations to local campaigns, the one thing you can 100% expect is to get on a mailing list for every local politician trying to fundraise. It’s massively annoying. I’ve even gotten personal phone calls from candidates wives, but interestingly never the candidates themselves.

The reality is that one donation from one person to one candidate is not enough. If you donate to lots of candidates and the local party or are part of a business group that makes lots of local donations, like a land use attorney, then you might have some pull.

But the bottom line is that politics and particularly local politics are all about relationships. So a one off donation is not probably not enough for favors.

[Anonymous]

Favors. This is about favors? Get out of here op.