Is This America's Most Republican Company?

Flowers Foods' giving more lopsided than the Koch Brothers'
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 8, 2014 11:46 AM CDT
Is This America's Most Republican Firm?
In this Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012, file photo, Hostess Brands Wonder breads are displayed at a grocery store in Santa Clara, Calif.   (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Want to see a company that makes Koch Industries look bipartisan? Look no further than Flowers Foods. The Georgia-based maker of Wonder Bread has given 99.5% of its political contributions since 1979 to Republicans, Derek Willis at the New York Times points out, possibly the most lopsided total of any major corporation. In comparison, Koch Industries' figure is just 88.1%—it's given as much to Democrats in the past 14 months as Flowers has in more than 30 years.

Flowers' executives hold to the same pattern in their personal giving; they've bestowed less than $5,000 total to Democrats since the Reagan administration, and at least $509,000 to Republicans. Yet the company is fairly quiet about its giving, and one political scientist says they're not even major power brokers in Georgia politics. Most companies distribute their largesse more evenly. Meanwhile, Democrats' most devoted company is Citizens Financial Group, which has given 77.5% of its donations to the party. (More Flowers Foods stories.)

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