Novato Nearly Brings Up the Rear In Marin's Political Contributions

We see ourselves as generous people here in Novato, but when it comes to donating to political campaigns, that doesn't pan out on paper — not compared to our Marin friends to the south.

Novato residents have donated approximately $227,982 to political organizations and candidates in the current election cycle, according to The Huffington Post's fundrasing database. That's about 12 percent of what San Rafael residents donated (approximately $1.9 million) and about 8 percent of what was donated in Tiburon/Belvedere (about $2.8 million), which was No. 1 among Marin municipalities.

The database tracks all political donations, compiled from the Federal Elections Commission's public records. The data displayed in the map above show all donations to candidates, advocacy organizations and political action committees from 2010 to 2012. The darker areas of the map indicate more money donated.

Certain zip codes were more generous in their political contributions than others. In Novato, the 94947 and 94949 ZIP codes were almost identical and 94945 was quite a bit less. San Rafael's downtown area donated approximately $1.7 million compared to the $260,000 from their North San Rafael neighbors.

After Tiburon/Belvedere and San Rafael, Mill Valley was next among Marin locations with $2.1 million, followed by the Sausalito area with $1.4 million and Greenbrae with $1.2 million.

Despite its much larger population, Novato donated just more than Larkspur ($206,500) and just less than San Anselmo ($311,000). Corte Madera weighed in with $175,000.

Click on the shaded areas of the map to see how much money that zip code donated.

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