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Senator Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, has received $100,000 in campaign donations from for-profit colleges and the industry's lobbyists, according to a report from The Kansas City Star. Blunt is chairman of an appropriations subcommittee that regulates funding for federal financial aid, and he is known as an ally of the for-profit industry.
Blunt has received $28,800 from for-profit institutions and their political action committees and at least $73,550 from lobbyists hired by for-profits. He is one of many Republicans who has received campaign contributions from the industry.
The senator's campaign has cashed $14,000 from Thompson Coburn, a lobbying firm that worked with ITT Technical Institutes -- the for-profit chain that collapsed in September. ITT Tech was the subject of several federal lawsuits and legal investigations. Blunt also received money from Bridgepoint Education, which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently fined $23.5 million for deceiving students about payments.
Blunt, who has been a senator since 2011, is facing one of the year's most heated Senate races. Although many pundits considered him a shoo-in for re-election, his Democratic challenger, Jason Kander, is neck and neck with him in polls.
