| Summary: | Although it is widely held that campaign contributions influence support for legislation, the impact of contributions is unclear. Despite lack of a tobacco growing or manufacturing constituency, many members of Congress (MOC) in the Southwest support the pro-tobacco Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2015 (HR 662/S 441), aka the "Cigar Bill". The association between campaign contributions from tobacco companies (2006-16) with cosponsor for the Cigar Bill were examined. There was a highly significant correlation with 92% of Southwest MOC who cosponsored the Cigar Bill having received campaign contributions. In contrast, 31% of those who did not cosponsoring the bill had received tobacco company campaign contributions (p<0.001 by Fisher's Exact Test). These data demonstrates a highly significant correlation between campaign contributions and legislative support for the "Cigar Bill".
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