Union Money: Highest Union Returns on Investment

Every union check to a Long Island candidate on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot, matched to how that candidate actually did. Spoiler: labor is extremely good at picking winners — mostly by picking people who were already going to win.

UNOFFICIAL election-night results (whorunsny.org/api/results, generated ). Money: NYSBOE filings Nov 5, 2025–Oct 19, 2026 + FEC PAC contributors. Direct contributions only — no independent expenditures.

Where the union money went

Every dollar unions gave to candidates, sorted by what happened to it.

Highest Union Returns on Investment

Green = dollars on winners. Orange = dollars on runners-up. Tap a union to see every candidate it funded.

📉 Biggest Unreturned Investments

Every runner-up who took union money, largest investment first.

🏆 Top union-backed winners

Biggest union hauls that came home with a seat.

🪨 Won With Less Union Cash (Highest Candidate Efficiency)

Races where the candidate with less union money won anyway.

🎩 Literally Cannot Lose: gave to both candidates in the same race

🍾 The Champagne Fund

Winners who took union cash and won by 30+ points.

🏛️ Party committee checks (not scored)

Party committees don't win or lose seats, so these dollars sit out the batting averages.

How we counted