91% of 2024 CMC-Affiliated Political Donations Go to Democrats

CMC-affiliated donations over time.

According to the nonprofit OpenSecrets, over 91% of the $22,782 in political donations made by Claremont McKenna-affiliated individuals in 2024 went to Democrats. While CMC-affiliated donations have leaned consistently left since 2012, 2024 marks the starkest partisan divide in donations yet, with donations to Democrats exceeding donations to Republicans by over a factor of 10. 

Although CMC itself does not make political contributions, the donations of individuals affiliated with the college can provide insight into the preferences of the CMC community. OpenSecrets defines affiliated individuals as an “organization's individual members or employees... and those individuals' immediate family members.” 

The candidate receiving the most funds was Aditya Pai, a Democrat and CMC alumnus who was defeated in the primary for California’s 45th congressional district. Pai took in $7,725 from CMC-affiliated donors. 

In the presidential election, CMC affiliates donated $6,306 to Kamala Harris and $1,800 to Donald Trump. 

As recently as 2012, a majority of CMC-affiliated donations went to Republicans. Since then, donations in every election cycle have favored Democrats, though none as sharply as 2024. 91.3% of 2024 donations went to Democrats, an increase from 86.5% in 2016 and 88.3% in 2020. 

The partisan divide in donations was even sharper for the other Claremont Colleges. 99.7% of the $69,595 donated by Pomona-affiliated individuals went to Democrats, along with 99.7% of the $9,923 donated by Scripps-affiliated donors and 99.4% of the $9,656 donated by Harvey Mudd-affiliated donors. Data for donors affiliated with Pitzer College were not available.