Presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden
Former Vice President Joe Biden is outraising incumbent President Donald Trump nearly 3-to-1 among medtech employees and their families, according to a Medical Design & Outsourcing analysis of OpenSecrets.org data.
Check out our breakdown covering 25 of the largest companies.
Medtech companies’ employees and their families have donated more than $1.3 million to Biden, versus $464,167 to Trump, according to OpenSecrets, which is run by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. That’s as of Oct. 22, when campaign financial totals for the current election cycle were released by the FEC.
Since June 30, Biden’s donations from medtech employees more than quadrupled from $289,533 in the first half of the year, whereas Trump’s donations have only increased 144% from his $190,570 in June.
In September, employees at 19 of the 25 companies favored Biden; now the number stands at 23.
Biden has campaigned on shifting production of medical equipment and other products back to the U.S. to create jobs and bolster the domestic supply chain. Biden on his campaign website said he wants to reinforce stockpiles of a range of critical products on which the U.S. is dangerously dependent on foreign suppliers. He also said he plans to build toward “flexible American-sourced and manufactured capability to ensure we are not vulnerable to supply chain disruptions in times of crisis.”
President Trump announced in early August that he would ensure essential medical supplies are produced in the U.S., according to a White House press release. During his term, Trump approved legislation permanently repealing the medical device tax, which was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
Biden also could have an advantage among medical device company employees because the U.S. medical device industry is based in more progressive states, including California, Massachusetts and Minnesota. All three states had a U.S. senator seeking the Democratic nomination this year — including Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who is now Biden’s running mate.
How 2020 election spending compares to other election cycles
The Center for Responsive Politics is estimating that the total cost of the 2020 election will reach $14 billion, making it the most expensive election in history.
As we enter the eighth month of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are donating more money to presidential candidates than the last two presidential elections combined, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Biden has received $937,673,077 in candidate committee money and $442,687,658 in outside money in this election cycle. Trump, on the other hand, has received $595,630,157 in candidate committee money and $267,922,092 in outside money.
Read on to find out how much employees at 25 of the largest medical device companies in the world donated to presidential candidates as of Oct. 22.
