Nov 5 (Reuters) - Over the past decade, Wells Fargo ( WFC )

has tripled donations to groups focused on influencing

state elections as the retail banking giant tries to sway local

level policymaking, according to public data and a bank

spokesperson.

While the billions of dollars Wall Street and tech moguls

have poured into Tuesday's federal elections have dominated

headlines, Wells Fargo's ( WFC ) increased local spending highlights how

state politics has become more important for major companies.

Banks and other corporations are facing increasingly active

and in some cases hostile state officials, some of whom want to

curtail what they call "woke capitalism" - corporate policies on

hot-button issues such as guns, fossil fuel lending and

diversity.

In the 2024 election cycle through Sept. 30, Wells Fargo ( WFC )

gave a total of $704,300 to three Democratic and three

Republican organizations known as 527s that are focused on

electing governors, attorneys general and state lawmakers,

according to data from the Center for Political Accountability

(CPA), a non-partisan transparency organization.

Those donations, split evenly across the parties, were up

more than 200% on the 2014 cycle, according to the Washington

group.

527 organizations are advocacy groups that can raise

unlimited corporate money to promote candidates for office. The

six tracked by CPA, none of which responded to Reuters requests

for comment, receive the lion's share of corporate money focused

on state politics.

A Wells Fargo ( WFC ) spokesperson said the bank's engagement with

the 527s focuses on policymaking and that it ensures its

donations are only used for operational and administrative

purposes rather than to support or oppose candidates for office.

"Like many companies, Wells Fargo ( WFC ) regularly engages with

elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels to

discuss public policy solutions that are important for our

customers and the communities we serve," the spokesperson said,

without commenting on any specific policies.

Bank of America ( BAC ), another retail banking giant, has

kept its donations to the same six groups steady at about

$400,000 per cycle since 2014, while Citigroup's ( C/PN ) fell

about 60% in that period, according to CPA.

A BofA spokesperson said the bank does not allow donations

to be used to support or oppose electoral candidates. Citigroup ( C/PN )

declined to comment.

In 2023, JPMorgan ( JPM ) used money from employee-funded political

action committees to pay membership dues for four of the same

six 527 groups - spending $101,500 all told -- but does not

donate corporate funds, according to the bank's website.

Whereas narrowly divided Washington has been beset by

partisan gridlock, state houses often tilt heavily in one

direction, giving local legislators broad power to set policy.

Voters in 44 states will choose 5,808 state lawmakers on

Tuesday, accounting for 78% of all legislative seats nationwide,

according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

There are also 11 gubernatorial races.

Bruce Freed, CPA's co-founder, said 527 organizations have

over the past decade transformed state-level politics -- where

matters such as congressional districting and reproductive

rights are decided -- helping drive the partisanship that now

characterizes the conduct of state attorneys general and

American national politics more broadly.

"When a company gives to a 527, that is used for political

purposes," he said. "They can say whatever they want but the

fact is the money is used for election-related spending."