An Observational Study of Political Contributions by Self-Described Otolaryngologists in the United States

Objective: As healthcare becomes an increasingly heated topic in American politics, the importance of political funding similarly grows. Political contributions by otolaryngologists within the United States were analyzed to better understand how otolaryngologists exert their free speech and how these funds may be focused to further the interests of otolaryngology in politics. Methods: The Federal Election Committee's website was queried for contributions to Political Action Committees (PAC) from 2003 to 2021 by self-described otolaryngologists. Data was classified by political party, then characterized temporally, geographically, the donor's employment type, and by recipient. Results: Otolaryngologists contributed $568,731.37 from 2003 to 2021, with an average of $352.16 per contribution. An average of 27.9 otolaryngologists contributed annually, with a minimum contribution of $1.00 and a maximum of $33,400.00. Contributions to Republican campaigns totaled $267,144.90, while $249,051.03 were donated to Democratic campaigns. The states garnering the largest spending by otolaryngologists were North Carolina ($120,912.00), Texas ($36,019.92), and Minnesota ($28,306.84). Donations to the otolaryngology-specific PAC, named ENT PAC, totaled 4.9% of all otolaryngologist dollars. Conclusion: Larger numbers of otolaryngologists engaged with political spending over time. The years of largest total contributions were 2012, 2015 (both to Democratic campaigns), and 2020 (to Republican campaigns). Otolaryngologists of private entities favored Republican campaigns, while public entity otolaryngologists favored Democratic campaigns. Otolaryngologists did not contribute to ENT PAC to the degree that other specialties contributed to their respective PACs. Level of Evidence: Level VI—Single observational study.