Republicans Benefit Most from Disney Campaign Donations, Could That Change?

It’s no secret that Disney involves itself in politics, whether guests like it or not. When you’re a huge corporation, it’s just smart business to try and garner favor from lawmakers and influence policy. That said, Disney has come under fire for their involvement in politics as of late. The FBI has gotten involved, fans have called for a boycott, and Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, seems to have declared war on the House of Mouse. This all culminated in a decision by Disney to suspend all campaign donations (Republican and Democrat), at least temporarily. 

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Many Republicans have criticized Disney’s political involvement despite being the biggest beneficiary of Disney campaign dollars. Historically, Disney has given much more to Republicans than they have to Democrats. Even in the 2022 election cycle, Republicans have benefited from Disney dollars much more than Democrats have. Disney has donated $400,00 to the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, and The Republican Party of Florida got $255,000.

Meanwhile, Disney has given the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee $85,000 this cycle, and the Florida Democratic Party, $25,000. 

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Before their infamous battles over  HB 1557 and SB 4C, Disney had given $50,000 to Friends of Ron DeSantis and $3,000 to the now-aborted gubernatorial campaign of Democratic Sen. Annette Taddeo, but no money to the gubernatorial campaigns of Democratic U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist or Democratic Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.

Some speculate that Disney will withdraw support from Republicans after its feud with DeSantis, but that seems unlikely, given the history of Republican control in the state. Time will tell as August draws on. This is the time when Disney has typically begun its final round of cash contributions to campaigns and committees. However,  it’s unclear if the company is ready to reverse its decision to suspend Florida donations or if they will reverse their support of Republican candidates when they do.