Duke University Employees Donated $1.6 Million to Democrats

Duke University Employees Donated $1.6 Million to Democrats

This is a symptom of a much bigger problem in higher education. There is no political balance.

Campus Reform reports:

Duke employees spent over $1.6M in Democrat-aligned political donations

Employee donations to federal candidates and campaign committees in the 2026 midterm cycle confirm the overwhelmingly liberal makeup of Duke University.

Of the $1,663,118.88 in total employee contributions recorded in the Federal Election Commission (FEC) database, $1,620,859.80 (97.46%) went to Democratic-aligned candidates and committees, while $42,259.08 (2.54%) went to Republican-aligned candidates and committees.

The dollar gap between the two totals stands at $1,578,600.72, meaning that Duke-affiliated donors gave roughly 38 times more money to Democratic candidates and committees than to Republican ones.

The largest individual donor in the dataset is Cynthia Kuhn, whose contributions appear across multiple filings totaling at least $270,000.

Other major donors in the dataset include George and Elin Abercrombie, listed as adjunct professors, who contributed $75,000; Professor James Berger, who donated $48,006; Professor Walter Preston Sinnott-Armstrong, who gave $42,000; and Professor Ilene C. Siegler, who also contributed $42,000. Additional top contributors include Professor Donald H. Beskind with $42,000 in donations, Professor James D. Cox with $30,000, and Professor Victor Joseph Dzau with $30,000.

The largest share of Duke-affiliated employee donations flowed to Democratic committees and progressive PACs. The top recipient was ActBlue, the Democratic Party’s primary online fundraising platform, which received roughly $675,000 in contributions.

The next largest recipients were Unite the Country, a pro-Biden political action committee, with about $300,000 in donations, and the Democratic National Committee, which received roughly $165,000.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.