As we come to another contentious election cycle, understanding dark money will become increasingly important. Here are some of the basics.
OpenSecrets
In every election cycle fundraising scams crop up. OpenSecrets identified 86 potential fraudulent fundraising schemes called scam PACs in the 2022 federal election cycle alone.
Meet Julia “Julie” Jenkins Fancelli, daughter of late Publix Super Markets and an heir to his roughly $9 billion fortune—and a funder of fascism.
Sinema’s campaign reported $10 million on hand as of March 31, several times her opponent Ruben Gallego’s $2.7 million on hand.
According to a ProPublica report, Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas failed to include in his financial disclosures that for decades he was treated to luxury vacations by Texas real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers , possibly better known as the "Pharma Benefits Mafia," are lobbying hard to protect the dollars they are siphoning from our wallets.
Nearly two-thirds of the cryptocurrency industry’s 278 lobbyists are “revolving door” hires, meaning they held jobs at the federal government before making the switch to represent the crypto industry’s interests.
The railroad lobby spent $653.5 million on federal lobbying over the past two decades, with the biggest splurges occurring between 2008 and 2012 where the industry lobbied against antitrust laws on the industry.
Money is the main driver of elections. Over 94% of winning U.S. House candidates spent more money than their opponent during the 2022 election, as did 88% of winning U.S. Senate candidates.