U.S. Democratic presidential hopefuls looking to raise taxes on private-equity firms are getting – gasp – fewer campaign donations from their targets than Republicans. But, in a sign of PE’s continued ignorance of the rules of engagement (read: to avoid the tax dragnet, you’ve gotta’ pay the piper) both parties so far have received less than $300,000.

The leading Republican presidential candidates have received more campaign donations from private-equity firms than Democrats, a shift from past fund-raising patterns as Democrats view the industry as a source of new taxes.

Newly released campaign-finance reports show former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Arizona Sen. John McCain received a total of $262,000 in contributions from employees of private-equity companies since January. The top Democrats in the 2008 race, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York, Barack Obama of Illinois and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards received a total of $231,000, the reports show.

The numbers could be the first indication that private-equity managers are reversing their trend of giving most of their donations to Democrats. Since the 2000 election, the same private-equity firms were the source of an increasing share of their donations to Democrats, according to historical data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

To be sure, the new fund-raising analysis only includes donations to the six leading presidential candidates from the 11 private-equity companies that make up the Private Equity Council, an industry trade association. The data show that the three Republican candidates received 53.1% of the $493,000 donated to the leading candidates in both parties. The companies include industry leaders such as Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Blackstone Group.

(Continue reading this story on Wall Street Journal)

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