Wall Street Giving Down, Except to Eric Cantor

Wall Street giving to Democrats is down this election cycle, and Republicans are having even worse luck tapping into bankers’ largess. But Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), the House minority whip, is cleaning up:

Data released on Wednesday morning by the good government group Public Campaign shows that Cantor received more than $460,000 from the financial sector during the second quarter of 2010. That total represents a “32 percent increase from the average of the previous five quarters,” the group found. And the donors included some of the biggest names on the Street as well as those they pay to lobby on their behalf in Washington.

Donors from Goldman Sachs gave $15,600 to Cantor in the second quarter of this year. Donors from Bank of America offered checks totaling $6,000. Equity Group Investments officials forked over $10,800 and American Express employees donated $7,500. “In the second quarter of 2010,” Public Campaign reports, Rep. Cantor received $18,250 in donations from registered lobbyists and firms that have Wall Street clients.

Perhaps it’s Wall Street’s way of saying “thank you” for all of Cantor’s outspoken opposition to the Obama Administration’s financial regulatory reform bill.