Obama’s fund-raising is boosted by Comcast employees and Californians

Employees at Comcast, the nation's largest Internet provider and the parent company to NBC Universal, donated more money to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fund-raising committee for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee, than employees at any other organization, according to a new report from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Comcast workers donated almost $200,000 this year to the fund, which raised nearly $40 million through the end of June, according to data from the Federal Election Commission.

Obama has held two fundraisers hosted by Comcast's top brass in recent months, the first at the home of the company's vice president David Cohen in Philadelphia, and another at Comcast chief executive Brian Roberts' summer home in Martha's Vineyard. In the 2010 congressional election cycle, Comcast employees donated about $1.7 million to Democrats and $1.1 million to Republicans.

Contributions by employees of legal and lobbying firms made it the largest single industry to contribute to the fund, with donations totaling $4.3 million. Retirees gave $3.7 million. The securities and investment industry kicked in another $3.4 million, and the entertainment industry donated $2.5 million.

Those four groups combined contributed more than a third of the amount raised by the fund.

Regionally, the Obama Victory Fund relies on California, New York and Massachusetts for nearly half of its donations. Gifts from California comprised a quarter of the president's war chest with $9.9 million. Illinois, Obama's home state, came in fourth in the Center's analysis with $2.5 million in donations.