This paper analyzes publicly available Federal Election Commission (FEC) data on scientists' political donations to explore the relationship between scientists' political leanings and public trust in science. The authors find a significant shift in recent years, with scientists overwhelmingly donating to Democratic candidates and parties, a trend not consistently present before 2000. They argue that this shift is better explained by changes in the Republican Party's stance toward science than changes in scientists' political views, suggesting that increased public engagement by centrist and conservative scientists could help bridge the growing divide in trust in science.

Alexander A. Kaurov, Viktoria Cologna, Charlie Tyson, Naomi Oreskes