Back to the library

Funding profile

Betty McCollum

Democrat · Representative for Minnesota’s 4th district

Career totals · 14 elections · 20002026

$14.7 million

raised by McCollum’s campaigns, everything from 2000 to 2026 added together.

45%

of it came from organized groups rather than from people giving on their own: at least $6.6 million from PACs, plus donations that organizations collected and directed.

$353,000

was spent about McCollum by outside groups. These are ads for or against them that their campaign cannot control, and none of it is part of the money above.

Every number on this page comes from Federal Election Commission filings, read on August 24, 2026. An election still under way keeps raising money, so its figure will have grown since. Check McCollum on FEC.gov

Where the money came from

Everything McCollum’s campaigns have reported raising, split by who gave it.

$14.7 millionraised
  • Individual donorsMoney given by people, in their own name.54%$8 million
  • Political action committeesOrganized groups: company-run committees, unions, trade associations.45%$6.6 million
  • Other sourcesParty transfers, the candidate's own money, loans and smaller categories.1%$102,000
Federal Election Commission filings across 14 elections. Percentages may not total 100 because each is rounded.

Money bundled through organizations

Not every “individual” donation arrives on its own. An organization can collect checks from its members, already earmarked for McCollum, and deliver them in a bundle. The law counts that as individual money, but the organization still chose where it went.

$2,550

reached McCollum this way, <1% of everything they raised from individuals. Each donation came from a real person. The organization picked who got it.

  • JStreetPAC$2,550

We can only count the organizations we have measured, so the real figure could be higher than this, never lower. Bundling is legal and widely used, and appearing here is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Who gave the most

Committee contributions from the 2024 and 2026 election periods, grouped by how the FEC classifies each giver. This covers a slice of the career total, and giving to a campaign is legal and ordinary.

  • Corporation54%$622,000
  • Trade association7%$85,000
  • Labor union21%$242,000
  • Membership organization7%$81,000
  • Co-operative2%$25,000
  • Corporation without capital stock1%$13,000
  • Unclassified8%$94,000

Which industries

  • Defense & aerospace90% · $177,000
  • Manufacturing10% · $20,000

The FEC records that a committee is a corporation; it does not record its industry. Those labels are ours, kept in a published list anyone can check. Where we have not labeled a giver we say “Other” rather than guessing.

Largest committee givers

  1. 1American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Afl-CioLabor · Labor union$23,000
  2. 23M CompanyManufacturing · Corporation$20,000
  3. 3United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of AmericaOther · Labor union$20,000
  4. 4RTX CorporationDefense & aerospace · CorporationThe defense contractor's PAC (formerly Raytheon), funded by employee contributions.$20,000
  5. 5National Air Traffic Controllers AssociationOther · Labor union$20,000
Show all 10 giversShow fewer
  1. 6Holland & Knight Committee for Effective GovernmentLegal & lobbying · Unclassified$20,000
  2. 7Honeywell International Inc.Defense & aerospace · Corporation$20,000
  3. 8General Dynamics CorporationDefense & aerospace · Corporation$20,000
  4. 9L3harris Technologies, Inc.Defense & aerospace · Corporation$20,000
  5. 10General AtomicsDefense & aerospace · Corporation$20,000

“Unclassified” means the FEC records no organization type for that committee, which usually means a leadership PAC. We show it as unclassified rather than guessing which industry it belongs to.

Their money and their votes, side by side

For each industry that gave to McCollum: the money, then the bills they voted on in that industry’s area of law. The Library of Congress assigns each bill’s subject, not us, so nothing here is picked to make a point.

This is not evidence that money bought a vote. People often donate to politicians who already agree with them. We show what was given and how McCollum voted; the judgment is yours.

Defense & aerospace$157,000 given

McCollum voted on 21 bills in this area. The 3 most substantive are listed first.

  • H R 980On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedModernizing the Veterans On-Campus Experience Act of 2025 This bill removes the requirement that educational and vocational counseling services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on campus at institutions of higher learning must be provided by VA counselors.Yes
  • H R 3123On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedThis bill establishes procedures for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to issue a pension that was due but unpaid at the time of a veteran’s death.Yes
  • H R 695On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedMedal of Honor Act This act increases the monthly special pension for living Medal of Honor recipients.Yes
Show 5 more bills with full summariesShow fewer
  • H R 586On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedVietnam Veterans Liver Fluke Cancer Study Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to conduct an epidemiological study and report on the prevalence of cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) in veterans who served in the Vietnam theater of operations during the Vietnam era.Yes
  • H R 1039On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedClear Communication for Veterans Claims Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to seek to enter into an agreement with a federally funded research and development center to assess notices that the VA sends to claimants applying for or submitting claims for VA benefits.Yes
  • H R 1228On Motion to Suspend the Rules and PassPrioritizing Veterans' Survivors Act This bill provides that the Office of Survivors Assistance (OSA) must operate within the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Currently, OSA operates within the Pension and Fiduciary Service of the Veterans Benefits Administration.)Yes
  • H R 530On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedACES Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to enter into an agreement with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study and report on the prevalence and mortality of cancers among veterans who served on active duty as aircrew members and regularly flew in fixed-wing aircraft.Yes
  • H R 1286On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedSimplifying Forms for Veterans Claims Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to seek to enter an agreement with a federally funded research and development center to assess the forms that the VA sends to claimants.Yes

Manufacturing$20,000 given

McCollum voted on 4 bills in this area. The 3 most substantive are listed first.

  • H R 2683On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedThis bill broadens the scope of the U.S. export control system to include remote access of items.Yes
  • H R 6500On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedThis bill extends through December 31, 2028, trade preferences that provide duty-free access to the U.S. market for most exports from eligible countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).Yes
  • H R 6504On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedThis bill extends through December 31, 2028, the special duty-free rules for various apparel products imported from Haiti, including the duty-free treatment provided for a limited amount (referred to as tariff preference levels) of certain apparel products assembled in and imported from Haiti.Yes
Show 1 more bill with full summariesShow fewer
  • H R 2071On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as AmendedThis bill prohibits federal funds from being made available to international financial institutions (e.g., the International Monetary Fund) for financing activities related to foreign shrimp farms.Yes

We do not score these or say which way a vote favored an industry, because that would be our opinion dressed up as a finding. Each bill links to the chamber’s own roll-call record. Industries where fewer than three bills came to a vote are left out, because a handful of votes cannot show a pattern.

Money spent about this member

Outside groups, usually super PACs, may spend without limit on ads for or against a candidate, as long as they do not coordinate with the campaign. McCollum has no legal control over any of it.

This is not a donation. Nobody gave this money to McCollum. It was spent on advertising about McCollum, and money spent against a candidate is plainly not funding them. So it never gets added to the figures above.

$353,000

has been spent for or against McCollum by outside groups. $333,000 supported McCollum; $20,000 opposed McCollum.

Largest outside spenders

Summed across 9 elections, using the Commission's aggregated totals so amended filings and 24-hour notices are not double-counted.

Spent supporting

$330,000

Ads urging people to vote for this member. Still not their money, and they cannot direct how it is spent.

  • COMMON GOOD FUND$298,000
  • PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF MINNESOTA POLITICAL ACTION FUND$14,000
  • CARE ACTION$7,767
  • SEIU COPE (SERVICE EMPLOYEES INTERNATIONAL UNION COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL EDUCATION)$3,750
Show all 6 groupsShow fewer
  • AFSCME WORKING FAMILIES FUND$3,277
  • AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY AND MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES AFL-CIO$2,655

Spent opposing

$20,000

Ads urging people to vote against this member. This money was spent to defeat them.

  • UNITE HERE TIP CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE$12,000
  • AMERICAN PRINCIPLES FUND$8,225

Election by election

The career figures above are the sum of these elections. Each row links to the Commission’s page for that election, where the numbers match line for line.

ElectionRaisedFrom PACsOutside spending
2026in progress$1.3 million$458,000 37%$10
2024$1.8 million$689,000 39%$18,000
2022$2.1 million$797,000 38%$302,000
2020$1.2 million$592,000 50%$2,949
2018$935,000$500,000 54%$18,000
2016$920,000$501,000 54%$12,000
2014$863,000$480,000 56%$10
2012$932,000$441,000 47%$372
2010$844,000$410,000 49%$160
2008$722,000$386,000 53%none
2006$563,000$272,000 48%none
2004$688,000$288,000 42%none
2002$736,000$386,000 52%none
2000$1.2 million$402,000 34%none

Raised is everything the campaign took in for that election. From PACs is the slice of it given by political action committees. Outside spending is what other groups spent on ads about the race, for and against—it is not part of “Raised”. An election marked in progress is still raising money, so its figures are not final.

We never publish the names of individual donors, and anything we cannot source stays off the page. The methodology explains every such choice.