Ted Budd
Republican · NC· In the Senate since 2023 (3 yrs)
Mostly independent of concentrated money.
Why this grade
Every score is built from money facts you can check. Here's what drove it.
23% of their money comes from small donors; 11.9% comes from PACs.
$1,298,800 in PAC money flows through their leadership PAC (BUILDING UP DEMOCRACY'S DREAM).
Where the money comes from
$198KCareer donations from the seven industries that most often buy influence, and the biggest names in each.
Am. Bankers Assn. $30K · Blackstone $28K · Securities Industry $10K · Goldman Sachs $9K · Visa $5K
Apple $18K · Google $17K · Meta $3K · Oracle $2K · Microsoft $500
Charter $20K · AT&T $13K · Comcast $1K · Verizon $60
Natl Assn of Realtors $27K
Johnson & Johnson $7K · Merck $149
Chevron $1K · ConocoPhillips $876 · Koch Industries $500 · ExxonMobil $290
Northrop Grumman $2K · Lockheed Martin $650 · Boeing $125
Source: FEC career receipts. It's all legal. That's the point.
The money votes
On the Senate votes where concentrated money was on the line, here's which way they went. Sided with the money on 7 of 7.
H.R. 1 · 2025. Its largest benefits flow to corporations and top earners. A yes vote sided with the donor class.
See who voted Yea & Nay →
H.J.Res. 88 · 2025. Revoked California's EV-standards waiver. A yes vote sided with oil and legacy-auto interests against the EV transition.
See who voted Yea & Nay →
S.J.Res. 18 · 2025. Killed the CFPB cap on overdraft fees at the biggest banks. A yes vote sided with their fee income.
See who voted Yea & Nay →
S.J.Res. 28 · 2025. Killed CFPB supervision of big-tech payment apps (Apple/Google/PayPal-style). A yes vote sided with those firms.
See who voted Yea & Nay →
H.J.Res. 35 · 2025. Killed the EPA fee on oil-and-gas methane leaks. A yes vote sided with the fossil-fuel industry that would have paid it.
See who voted Yea & Nay →
H.J.Res. 109 · 2024. Killed the SEC rule making banks hold capital against customer crypto. A yes vote sided with crypto firms and banks.
See who voted Yea & Nay →
S.J.Res. 32 · 2023. Killed the CFPB rule making banks report small-business lending data (used to spot bias). A yes vote sided with the banks.
See who voted Yea & Nay →
H.J.Res. 30 · 2023. Killed the rule letting retirement plans weigh climate risk. A yes vote sided with fossil-fuel and asset-management interests.
See who voted Yea & Nay →
Source: Senate roll-call records. “With the money” means the vote favored the industry whose cash was at stake. It's not a judgment of right or wrong.
How to read the grade
- AFunded by you, not by concentrated money
- BMostly independent of concentrated money
- CA mix — some independence, some big money
- DLeans on concentrated money
- FHeavily reliant on concentrated money
We grade money behavior, not party. Both parties run the full range. We show the averages in the open: the typical Democrat scores 68, the typical Republican 55. Source: FEC receipts (small-donor vs PAC) and leadership-PAC filings. Nothing here alleges a crime. The point is that it's all legal.