New Balance makes great running shoes. Their shoes are consistently ranked as some of the best. And according to Runner’s World, a lot of runners are getting into politics.
So I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that one of the comments we get the most from our users and readers is about New Balance’s political leaning. Our users are either shocked and appalled, or they love it.
That’s because New Balance and its senior employees lean heavily Republican. Combined they donate a lot of money to politicians and PACs, and 98% goes to Republicans (see here for more details).
What’s even more interesting is that New Balance, which one would think sells a lot of shoes to Democrats, is one of the few shoe brands to be so overwhelmingly Republican. You can see our complete list of shoe brands here.
We dug into the data a little bit for you, and what we found was surprising.
In the 2016 election cycle, a large chunk of New Balance’s donations to Republicans came from its board chair, James Davis. Mr. Davis, a Greek American from Massachusetts, alone donated nearly $2 million dollars to Republican politicians and PACs during the 2016 election. This included nearly $400,000 donated to a Donald Trump PAC and $100,000 to a PAC for Paul Ryan. In the 2018 election cycle, he donated nearly $1 million more to Republican politicians and PACs.
Here’s the complete list of the politicians Mr. Davis directly supported in 2016 and 2018:
- Donald Trump (R, President)
- Paul Ryan (R, WI)
- Frank Guinta (R, NH)
- Bruce Poliquin (R, ME)
- Roy Blunt (R, MO)
- John Boozman (R, AR)
- Liz Cheney (R, WY)
- Martha McSally (R, AZ)
- Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R, WA)
- Mitt Romney (R, UT)
- Mimi Walters (R, CA)
- Will Hurd (R, TX)
- Bryan Steil (R, WI)
- Rick Scott (R, FL)
- Geoff Diehl (R, MA)
- Josh Hawley (R, MO)
- Rob Bishop (R, UT)
New Balance is known for making a good chunk of its shoes in America, which is a wonderful thing. They even label their shoes as such.
Download our app now and find out what your brands are up to with their (i.e., your) money!