When Politico released a list of the nation's top 100 political donors for 2014 this week, we noticed that 17 of them are based in the Bay Area. At the top of the list, the biggest political donor for 2014 is a San Francisco-based couple well known for supporting legislation related to climate change.

Tom Steyer & Kat Taylor with Paul & Nancy Pelosi(Photo: Drew Altizer)

1.Tom Steyer and Kat Taylor

Steyer and Taylor donated $74,300,000 to political causes in 2014, making them the top donors in the nation. "Steyer gave 90 percent of his cash to a super PAC he started to draw attention to climate change," according to Politico, noting that "[i]t supported exclusively Democrats, but won only three of the seven races in which it played, prompting questions about whether his cash would have been better spent elsewhere."

Having invested so heavily in politics, perhaps it's not surprising that Steyer is rumored to be considering a run for Barbara Boxer's U.S. Senate seat in 2016.

Judy Marcus and Paul Pelosi (Photo: Drew Altizer)

2.Judy and George Marcus, real estate development, $3,100,000 (Democrats)

John Jordan (Photo: Jordan Winery)

3. John Jordan, Jordan Vineyard & Winery, $2,400,000 (Republicans)

Quinn DeLaney and Wayne Jordan (Photo: Oakland Museum)

4. Quinn DeLaney and Wayne Jordan, Jordan Real Estate, $2,300,000 (Democrats)

5. Jennifer and Jonathan Soros, $1,800,000 (Democrats)

6. Elizabeth Simons and Mark Heising, $1,700,000 (Democrats)

Steve Silberstein (Photo: Youtube)

7. Steve Silberstein, $1,700,000 (Democrats)

8. Sean Parker, $1,600,000 (mostly to Democrats)

9. Scott Shenker, $1,500,000 (Democrats)

10. Barbara Lee, congressperson, $1,400,000 (Democrats)

Meridee Moore and Kevin King (Photo: Drew Altizer)

11. Meridee Moore and Kevin King, $1,100,000 (Democrats)

12. Reid Hoffman, $1,100,000 (Democrats)

13. Charles Munger, Jr., $1,000,000 (Republicans)

President Obama and John Doerr (Photo: UPI)

14. Ann and John Doerr, $968,000 (Democrats)

Bill and Susan Oberndorf (Photo: Drew Altizer)

15. Susan and Bill Oberndorf, $962,000 (mostly to Republicans)

Susie Tompkins Buell and Hillary Clinton, 2008 (Photo: Associated Press)

16. Susie Tompkins & Mark Buell, $814,000 (Democrats)

Marc Benioff and Hillary Clinton, 2014 (Photo: Salesforce)

17. Lynne Krilich and Marc Benioff, $778,000 (Democrats)

* As wealthy individuals often have homes throughout the world, we've included these individuals because they primarily do business here, or live here through a large part of the year.