That is an eye-opening list. One of the unexpected things was how many Indian tribes are up at the top of the list. I guess I just assumed that when Abramaoff was put away, his business advising (and often cheating) the tribes had gone away with him. The sole focus on state propositions makes it actually a pretty straightforward business proposition for them, Abramoff or no Abramoff. With $billions on the table, $millions in donations is a sound business investment.

Just for chuckles I took a look at Goldman Sach's contributions. Smart money managers, all right. They gave the most to Obama, but didn't neglect significant side bets on Hillary on the Democratic side (2/3 the donation to Obama); and on the Republican side, spread it around pretty evenly among the top three contenders. They gave about 50% more to the Democrats that year, but then, considering how the election turned out, that suggests some pretty good prognostication. All the politician will fondly remember the envelope from Goldman Sachs when the crunch comes, regardless of party.

For the rest, mostly the usual suspects. Lots of energy suppliers near the top, including our beloved PG&E spreading the vigorish, and Edison from the south. No doubt it'll skyrocket when the 2010 figures come in, given PG&E's essentially sole sponsorship of the proposition to prevent municipal electrical systems.

Good data; thanks. Wish I could get it in spreadsheet form to play with (it'd be intersting to close the loop with their figures for winning candidates, to compute a percentage of effectiveness), but it's not there for free, though no doubt for a price you can buy raw data. Still, illuminating.