5 key facts about mortgage lender political donations this year

The combined affiliates of megalender Rocket Mortgage’s parent company remains the industry’s biggest contributors, with individuals and the Rock Holdings PAC giving a combined $3,178,304 this cycle as of Sept. 22. Rock Holdings has dominated mortgage banker and broker spending since 2014, when it first overcame the Mortgage Bankers Association’s hold on the top spot. It also sat just outside of OpenSecret’s top100 contributors, ranking 108th of the tracker’s 27,673 companies ranked. 

The Rock Holdings PAC this election cycle has given $1,785,670 to candidates, party committees, leadership PACs and outside groups, according to OpenSecrets. Among the PAC’s contributions, 52% of money has gone to Democrats, the largest share among any of the PAC’s contributions in any election cycle. 

In all, 47% of dollars from the Rock Holdings PAC and Rock Holdings employees combined has gone to Democrats, also the largest share in the entity’s history. Its spending in the 2022 race is third-highest on record, behind its contribution totals during the 2016 and 2020 presidential election years. 

The Mortgage Bankers Association Political Action Committee, or MORPAC, remains the field’s biggest PAC, giving $2,686,250 to a near-even split of Democrats and Republicans this election cycle as of Sept. 22. The $1,234,001, or 49.94% of contributions for Democrats is the highest share of support for the party by MORPAC since 2008. 

MORPAC this cycle has also spent a record $1.5 million, according to OpenSecrets. After the Federal Home Loan Banks and the Housing Policy Council trade association, Veterans Affairs lender NewDay USA spent the most, with $300K between 2021 and 2022.