Tech companies, VCs, swing to Democrats

Now that the Democrats are the dominant party on the hill in Washington, tech companies and venture capitalists are contributing more to that party than they are to congressional Republicans.

For the first half of this year, almost two-thirds of the contributions from the political action committees of Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Google and other tech companies went to Democrats and Democratic committees, according to the Mercury News. That’s the reverse of what it was last year.

So far this year, the venture capital lobby group, the National Venture Capital Association has given a majority of its money to the Democrats. Note, however, that the amounts are relatively small. They pale in comparison to the many millions of dollars major politicians need for their campaigns. Here’s a full list, courtesy of PEHub (downloads Excel file)

Five partners of Kleiner Perkins, one of Silicon Valley’s leading venture firms — Brook Byers, John Doerr, Joseph Lacob, Ray Lane and Ted Schlein — are the main donors to the VC PAC this year, the report notes. (Chart by Karl Kahler, of Mercury News).

Meanwhile, the valley’s glittery Google is the place every politician wants to visit.

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