Big money isn’t just pouring into the 2016 presidential race-which is already on pace to break several campaign spending records. The campaign-finance arms race has also driven big money into several contentious U.S. Senate races much earlier than usual. “Early money is like yeast, or so goes the saying, implying that when you raise and […]
Campaign Spending
Big GOP Senate Spending May Fall Short
Democrats may be vastly outspent in this year’s Senate contests, but their momentum is building anyway.
Arizona Becomes Ground Zero in Fight Over Secret Political Spending
Republicans have taken direct aim at the state’s campaign-finance disclosure laws, but critics warn that the move will unleash a flood of dark money.
Will Disclosure Fight Doom SEC Nominees?
The question of whether the Securities and Exchange Commission should require public corporations to more publicly disclose their political spending has emerged as a growing point of contention in Senate deliberations over who should serve on the SEC. At a Senate Banking Committee hearing this week to consider two potential commissioners nominated by President Barack […]
Will Trump Finally Join the Money Chase?
Until now, Donald Trump has won considerable mileage out of his claim to be above the money fray. But the general election may force him to get his hands dirty—and answer to voters.
The Campaign-Finance Reform Wish List
Voter outrage over money in politics and a Democratic presidential win could give reform advocates the opportunity of generation.
Big Money Turned Upside Down
Clinton and Trump approach fundraising from opposite poles, but both face political money paradoxes in an election that’s scrambled expectations.
When Super PACs Go Dark: LLCs Fuel Secret Spending
Super PACs are bound by election laws to disclose their funding sources, but increasingly big donors are routing their money through “shell corporations” to hide their identities.
DNC Lobbyist Money Gives Bernie More Ammo
The Democratic National Committee’s decision to roll back the ban on lobbyist contributions initially imposed by President Barack Obama captures the complicated political money struggle going on between Democratic presidential frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. On the one hand, Clinton may benefit from an influx of lobbyist money to the DNC. Sanders has done […]
Business Lobby Fuels Alabama’s Minimum Wage Fight
Well-funded business groups in Alabama are spending millions to help kill a minimum wage hike enacted by the city of Birmingham, prompting outrage from labor organizers who plan a massive rally in the state capitol of Montgomery on Tuesday. The city-state clash over the minimum wage in Alabama mirrors similar fights around the country that […]

