On Jan. 27, a fundraising committee called Texans for Lamar Smith received a $3,500 check from the Dell Inc. political action committee, earmarked to help with the congressman’s Republican primary battle.
Though Smith’s Central Texas district doesn’t include Dell Inc.’s Round Rock headquarters — that falls under U.S. Rep. John Carter — Smith is chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, which helps set policy on matters that affect Dell Inc.
The Dell Inc. Employee Political Action Committee has spent $181,615 in the 2016 election cycle, supporting nearly 40 House and Senate races, with the bulk of the funds going to other political action committees and outside spending groups.
An analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics shows that of Dell’s direct contributions to House and Senate candidates, 55 percent of its contributions went to Republicans and 45 percent to Democrats. As of Feb. 26, the PAC had not directly contributed to any presidential races.
Dell Inc. is certainly not the only tech company to have its own political action committee. Most major tech employers have one. Google’s NetPAC, for instance, has spent more than $1 million this election cycle and Facebook’s PAC has spent nearly $300,000. In Austin, Applied Materials has spent $70,000 this election cycle through its PAC, and the Center for Responsive Politics says it also donates about 55 percent to Republicans.
The Dell PAC is the biggest tech committee in the Austin area. Donors to this PAC do include Michael and Susan Dell, who gave $10,000. But they also include other Dell employees, such as Dell Vice President of Human Resources Craig Briscoe, who donated $2,500.
Dell spokesman David Frink said the company’s PAC is a “nonpartisan” PAC that supports candidates for the U.S. House and Senate only. The PAC is governed by a board of directors that is comprised of Dell team members who meet at least twice a year to vote on candidates to consider contributing to, Frink said.
“Dell PAC members are encouraged to present recommendations of candidates to support to the PAC board,” he said.
Frink said the board considers factors such as “their district, committee assignments, leadership position and their positions on issues that affect the technology industry.”
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