An Occupational Profile of Norm Coleman's Campaign Donor List

The many bits of information made available from the leak of the Norm Coleman U.S. Senate campaign donor database, posted at Wikileaks on Wednesday, gives the public a glimpse into what type of people supported the Republican incumbent's candidacy.

On Thursday, Smart Politics broke down the donor data by state; today this blog examines the occupation of those Coleman contributors whose identity was compromised in the database leak. While this list, first exposed in late January 2009, does not document the sum total of all Coleman reelection campaign donors, it does provide an interesting snapshot of those contributing to his campaign.

Although elite professionals top the list - with the legal profession, medical profession, middle management, and CEOs comprising 4 of the top 6 slots - they only tally about one-quarter of all donors (25.5 percent) on this list.

Excluding retirees (who, at 500 strong, contributed the most (10.6 percent)), attorneys and those involved in the legal profession were the most frequent contributors, with 349 giving to Coleman's campaign from this donor list (7.4 percent).

The medical profession was the third largest group, with 317 donors, followed by homemakers with 307.

Those associated with business and finance comprised the largest subgroup - led by middle management (299), CEOs and executives (241), small business owners (190), accountants (183), salespersons (157), financial advisers and stock brokers (128), real estate interests (89), business analysts (70), insurance interests (41), banking interests (40), and those involved in marketing (39). Combined, these groups totaled 31.1 percent of donors whose private information was leaked.

Observers may be surprised to find a fair number of contributors from groups frequently associated with supporting Democratic candidates: K-12 educators (101), academics (86), students (51), writers and publishers (47), and artists and musicians (26) totaled 6.6 percent of the list.

Although more than 300 medical practitioners appeared on the list, relatively few individuals involved in the pharmaceutical (20) or health services industries (15) contributed to Coleman's campaign.

Traditional blue-collar workers, such as truckers (23), factory workers (10), and maintenance workers (10) did not constitute a significant number of Coleman's financial supporters.

Norm Coleman's Compromised Campaign Donors, By Occupation

Follow Smart Politics on Twitter.