"In the 1996 election cycle, a Center for Responsive Politics report notes, Indian gaming interests gave over $1.5 million in soft money to national party committees. According to National Journal, six of the top 10 soft money donors among interest groups nationwide in 1999-2000 were Native American tribes. The No. 3-ranked Seminole Tribe of Florida donated $325,000, 85 percent of which went to the Democrats. After making the donations, the Seminoles gained approval for electronic gambling machines. The No. 5-ranked Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, operators of the gargantuan Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, donated $319,000, 83 percent to the Democrats.
Final tallies are not in yet, but analysts say the top individual recipient of Indian gaming money during election 2000 was none other than anti-soft money crusader Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who sits on the Senate Committee of Indian Affairs.
So why aren't Indian tribes raising hell over McCain's soft-money ban? The answer lies in an obscure ruling by the Federal Election Commission last year, which was overlooked by the mainstream press cheerleaders for campaign finance reform and downplayed on Capitol Hill for self-interested reasons.
Responding to a request by lobbyists for the Oneida Indian Nation, a Democrat-leaning tribe which owns and operates the profitable Turning Stone Casino in Verona, N.Y., the FEC ruled unanimously that Indian tribes are not subject to the aggregate limit on annual giving by "individuals." In one of those inexplicable Clintonesque legal interpretations, the FEC ruled that while a tribe is a "person" subject to individual limits on contributions to candidates, parties, and political action committees, it is not an "individual" subject to the current $25,000 limit on its annual total of contributions."
http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=461
From Open Secrets.org
1999-2004 Total Receipts: $3,789,720
1999-2004 Total Spent: $4,607,268
Cash on Hand: $1,283,451
Debts: $0
Date of last report: December 31, 2004
First elected: 1986
Next election: 2004
Fundraising by Cycle:
2004: $3,419,717
2002: $343,229
2000: $26,774
Source of Funds:
(How to read this chart / methodology)
Individual contributions
$2,788,567
(73.6%)
PAC contributions
$685,093
(18.1%)
Candidate self-financing
$0
Other
$316,060
(8.3%)
PAC Contribution Breakdown
(How to read this chart / methodology)
Business
$905,867
(83.8%)
Labor
$69,500
(6.4%)
Ideological/Single Issue
$105,180
(9.7%)
Quality of Disclosure:
(How to read this chart / methodology)
Full Disclosure
$3,821,550
(92.0%)
Incomplete
$33,870
(0.8%)
No Disclosure
$298,128
(7.2%)
2004 Indian Gaming Contributions top 20 Senators:
Rank
Candidate
Amount
1
Murray, Patty (D-WA)
$112,990
2
Inouye, Daniel K (D-HI)
$91,400
3
Dorgan, Byron L (D-ND)
$57,300
4
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA)
$56,800
5
Burns, Conrad (R-MT)
$38,022
6
Kerry, John (D)
$35,250
7
McCain, John (R-AZ)
$33,550
8
Reid, Harry (D-NV)
$25,500
9
Boxer, Barbara (D-CA)
$23,000
10
Coleman, Norm (R-MN)
$21,500
11
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA)
$20,000
12
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)
$17,000
13
Stabenow, Debbie (D-MI)
$16,000
14
Salazar, Ken (D-CO)
$14,000
15
Dodd, Chris (D-CT)
$13,750
16
Dayton, Mark (D-MN)
$12,000
17
Lieberman, Joe (D-CT)
$11,250
18
Lincoln, Blanche (D-AR)
$9,000
18
Clinton, Hillary Rodham (D-NY)
$9,000
18
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK)
$9,000
Indian Gaming:
Top 20 Senators 2002 Election
Rank
Candidate
Amount
1
Cantwell, Maria (D-WA)
$116,700
2
Johnson, Tim (D-SD)
$63,614
3
Baucus, Max (D-MT)
$28,250
4
Inhofe, James M (R-OK)
$20,300
5
Cochran, Thad (R-MS)
$20,000
5
Landrieu, Mary L (D-LA)
$20,000
7
Dorgan, Byron L (D-ND)
$18,000
7
Harkin, Tom (D-IA)
$18,000
9
Smith, Gordon H (R-OR)
$15,600
10
Murray, Patty (D-WA)
$15,530
11
Inouye, Daniel K (D-HI)
$14,500
12
Burns, Conrad (R-MT)
$7,000
12
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC)
$7,000
14
Durbin, Dick (D-IL)
$6,250
15
Allard, Wayne (R-CO)
$6,000
15
Akaka, Daniel K (D-HI)
$6,000
15
Bond, Christopher S 'Kit' (R-MO)
$6,000
18
Coleman, Norm (R-MN)
$5,500
19
Levin, Carl (D-MI)
$5,250
20
Wyden, Ron (D-OR)
$4,500
Indian Gaming:
Top 20 Senators 2000 Election
Rank
Candidate
Amount
1
McCain, John (R-AZ)
$72,650
2
Kennedy, Edward M (D-MA)
$19,400
3
Abraham, Spencer (R-MI)
$18,000
4
Campbell, Ben Nighthorse (R-CO)
$9,500
5
Roth, William V Jr (R-DE)
$9,000
6
Robb, Charles S (D-VA)
$8,000
7
Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM)
$5,500
8
Kyl, Jon (R-AZ)
$5,000
8
Torricelli, Robert G (D-NJ)
$5,000
10
Smith, Gordon H (R-OR)
$3,500
11
Lieberman, Joe (D-CT)
$3,400
12
Santorum, Rick (R-PA)
$3,000
13
Inhofe, James M (R-OK)
$2,000
13
Johnson, Tim (D-SD)
$2,000
13
Kerrey, Bob (D-NE)
$2,000
13
Dodd, Chris (D-CT)
$2,000
17
Burns, Conrad (R-MT)
$1,500
18
Byrd, Robert C (D-WV)
$1,000
18
Thomas, Craig (R-WY)
$1,000
18
Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA)
$1,000
18
Stevens, Ted (R-AK)
$1,000
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.asp?Ind=G6550&Cycle=2002&recipdetail=S&Mem=Y&sortorder=U