Some Firms Resumed PAC Giving After Pause Prompted by Jan. 6

Two Big Law firms that halted political action committee donations after the U.S. Capitol riot, Holland & Knight and Hogan Lovells, resumed the giving months later, including support for Congress members who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Holland & Knight—and in some cases its clients—had built relationships with several lawmakers who voted to overturn the election, and severing ties with them wouldn’t have been easy, said Rich Gold, a partner in the firm’s Washington office.

“We’re friends, but we were disappointed when they did that,” Gold said of the election overturn votes. The firm backed 13 Republican House members in 2021 who made overturn votes, for a total of $15,500.

The aid shows the challenge Big Law faces in withholding campaign donations in a U.S. political system that places a premium on monetary contributions as a method to influence public policy.

House members who voted to overturn the election and received Holland & Knight donations include Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.), and Ken Calvert (R-Calif.).

Hogan’s PAC, which like Holland & Knight paused PAC giving after Jan. 6, resumed later, including support for a lawmaker who voted to overturn, Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Texas).

“As a bipartisan firm, we have resumed PAC donations to party committees on both sides of the aisle to represent the collective needs of our clients,” Ivan Zapien, who heads Hogan’s government relations and public affairs practice, said in a statement.

Overall, Big Law political action committees gave nearly $3.7 million to individual candidates in 2021, according to data from the non-profit OpenSecrets, which tracks campaign contributions. Nearly $2.3 million of the total went to Democrats.

Akin Gump’s PAC donated the most to candidates in 2021—more than $206,000. Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, K&L Gates, Holland & Knight, and Greenberg Traurig rounded out the top five, with each giving more than $130,000 last year.

Leaning Democratic

Firms have historically tilted toward Democrats in their PAC giving, but the gap widened last year because the party controls the White House and both houses of Congress, said Andrew Mayersohn, an OpenSecrets researcher.

“The ratio is similar to 2010, the last time Democrats held a trifecta,” he said.

Gold, who leads Holland & Knight’s public policy and regulation group, said his firm found that it was important not to lump each member who voted to overturn the election in the same category.

The firm conducted a six-month review that included at least a dozen meetings with the members, Gold said. The firm scoured members’ social media accounts to see if they spread lies about the election or expressed remorse after the riot, he said.

“We needed to determine who, despite the vote, was someone who still fits with the values of the firm,” Gold said.