Bush’s elite business donors cover every major U.S. industry. As the number of elite Bush donors grew from 241 in 2000 to 548 in August 2004, each of the 14 economic sectors below recruited additional elite Bush donors. As they did so, the minimal amount of money that these elite donors delivered to the campaign shot from $24.1 million in 2000 to $76.5 million in 2004.

• The most notable economic shift from 2000 to 2004 is that the Finance industry supplanted "Lawyers & Lobbyists" as the largest base of Bush’s elite-donor support. The Finance industry shot from 31 elite donors in 2000 to 105 in 2004. By early 2004 this industry’s elite donors had raised at least $15.6 million for the Bush campaign, far exceeding the $3.4 million minimum that it raised for the previous election.

 
• If the "Lawyers & Lobbyists" category slipped from first to second place, it was not for lack of trying. This sector more than doubled its elite Bush donors, going from 47 in 2000 to 98 in 2004. Nonetheless, it was no match for the Finance industry’s torrid growth.

 
• These data show current available employment data, coding 2000 Bush Pioneers by their current jobs rather than their jobs in 2000. While most Pioneers did not shift industries, the greatest skew occurs in the "Other" category, which is dominated by full-time public officials. This category accounts for 15 percent of Bush’s 2000 elite donors and just 8 percent of the 2004 batch. In fact, many of the 2000 Pioneers who are now public officials were in the private sector in 2000. Yet they are now cabinet officials or ambassadors after President Bush tapped these big donors as top appointees.

2004 Pioneers and Rangers greatly outnumber 2000 Pioneers

2004 Pioneers and Rangers raise three times what 2000 Pioneers raised