Title: Does AARP Support the Democratic Party? | Snopes.com
Headings: Does AARP Support the Democratic Party?
Does AARP Support the Democratic Party?
When individuals support a political party, it does not automatically mean their employer follows suit.
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Content: In terms of candidates and political parties, however, AARP’s official position is that it is non-partisan. The organization states it “does not support, endorse or contribute to political candidates or parties.” Instead, per AARP, the organization’s role in terms of election politics is “connecting voters to information about where the candidates stand on issues most important to them including the future of Social Security and other critical issues related to financial security, health and well-being.” We checked the AARP’s federal campaign finance data using the website Open Secrets, a project operated by the government accountability organization The Center for Responsive Politics. We found no contributions to any political candidates or parties, Democratic or otherwise, from AARP, the organization. However, contributions from individuals who work for AARP is another matter. “AARP does not have any record of direct contributions to political parties or candidates based on my review of federal campaign finance and tax filings covering recent years, but AARP’s officers [executives] and employees can still make political donations in a personal capacity, and contributions from donors listing AARP as their employer in Federal Election Commission records have primarily gone to Democratic candidates in recent years,” said Anna Massoglia, a researcher for The Center for Responsive Politics. AARP policy prohibits employees or officers from engaging in any personal political activity using AARP resources or during work hours. According to campaign finance data tracked by Open Secrets, individual donors associated with AARP made a total of $96,381 in political contributions as of this writing in the 2020 federal election cycle, the majority (87.45%) of those donations going to Democratic candidates. Massoglia said that as a 501 (c)4 organization, the AARP is allowed under U.S. tax code to engage in some political campaign activity.