"SEIU's main PAC spent a whopping $36 million this election cycle, including millions of dollars in the form of independent expenditures (outside spending). The group also spent more than $4.7 million on campaign contributions to federal and non-federal candidates, including $1.55 million in donations to more than 200 unique federal Democratic candidates.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), who was first elected to Congress in a 2009 special election to replace Rep. Hilda Solis (D-Calif.) after she was appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor, received more than $20,000 from SEIU toward both her special election and re-election bids.
And SEIU also spent big on other Democratic political hopefuls, dishing out five-figure sums to numerous candidates, including MacDonald King D'Alessandro, a challenger for a U.S. House seat in Massachusetts who lost in a party primary, and to Alexander Giannoulias, the unsuccessful Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful in Illinois. (PACs, by law, are limited in the sizes of the contributions they may make.)
The U.S. Chamber's PAC, in contrast, spent significantly less. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce PAC spent slightly more than $134,800 through late November, including campaign contributions to 30 candidates."
Capital Rivals: U.S. Chamber of Commerce vs. SEIU on 2010 spending
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