roschenjoeu

The political action committees of banks, investment firms and real estate interests — all of which are regulated by Frank’s committee — donated more than $106,000 to the Massachusetts Democrat from Aug. 1 to mid-October, a USA TODAY analysis of campaign-finance data shows.

The donations included $5,000 on Oct. 13 from the political committee of Bank of America, which received $45 billion in federal bailout funds.

As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank oversaw billions in bailout money in the 2008 Troubled Asset Relief Program and helped write legislation signed by President Obama this year that imposed rules on nearly every part of the financial industry.

On Nov. 2, Frank beat Republican Sean Bielat by 10 percentage points, his closest margin of victory in years. Two years earlier, Frank won re-election by 43 percentage points.

Overall, Frank received more campaign money from the securities industry than any other sector, a total of $265,000 through mid-October, according to the most recent campaign reports analyzed by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks money in politics. That’s an uptick from Wall Street contributions to Frank in the 2008 election. Alabama Rep. Spencer Bachus, the committee’s top Republican who is in line to become chairman in January, received $132,000 from the securities industry, the center’s data show. He had no Democratic opposition in this year’s election.

Mary Boyle of the congressional watchdog group Common Cause said last-minute donations to vulnerable incumbents raise questions. “Are you beholden to the public and your constituents or to the donors who just saved your job?” she said. “We have a huge concern that … the public interest takes a back seat.”

Frank spokesman Harry Gural said the 15-term congressman is “absolutely not” influenced by donations. “He doesn’t pay close attention to who gives what.” Gural called fundraising a “necessary evil” for lawmakers.

“Everyone hates it,” he said. Frank “doesn’t like it either.”

Three other committee chairmen also raised sizable contributions from political action committees and lost their seats in this month’s Republican landslide that saw Democratic stalwarts and newcomers alike tossed out of the House.

Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar, chairman of the transportation committee; Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; and South Carolina Rep. John Spratt, who oversees the House budget panel, all received far more political action committee contributions than their Republican challengers.

Oberstar, an 18-term Minnesota congressman, raised more than five times the campaign money collected by Republican Chip Cravaack, who ousted Oberstar by a narrow margin. More than half of Oberstar’s money came from political action committees, compared with fewer than $1 out of every $10 that went to Cravaack.

“It helps to have seniority and the chairmanship because it makes fundraising easier,” said Oberstar spokesman John Schadl. “But, ultimately, donors don’t vote. … Elections are determined by people showing up at the polls, not campaign contributions.”

Last-minute donors to Oberstar included the political action committee of the American Association of Airport Executives, which contributed a $1,000 check Oct. 9, federal records show.

The association sent in the check after seeing poll numbers that showed Oberstar faced trouble, said Todd Hauptli, the airport group’s senior executive vice president. He called Oberstar’s defeat a “loss for the country” of someone who deeply “understands the critical role transportation infrastructure plays in our economy.”

Outside interests also spent heavily in the Frank and Oberstar races.

Conservative groups spent more than $200,000 on advertising and other independent campaign activity to target Frank, campaign records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics show. Frank chipped in a $200,000 personal loan to his campaign to combat the outside spending, Gural said.

Early on, Frank had said he would not accept campaign money from the top 10 recipients of the government Troubled Asset Relief Program, including Bank of America, or their executives. Once the bank repaid the government in December 2009, “that restriction was lifted,” Gural said.

Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton said the bank has traditionally supported Frank. “He’s chairman of a key committee that matters to the bank and matters to our customers,” she said.