Money in Politics

We need to know who is influencing our elected officials in order to hold them accountable.

That begins with a transparent campaign finance system. We all have a right to know who is trying to sway our votes in elections. This principle has been upheld repeatedly by the Supreme Court and is at the heart of our political system.

Yet much of the information about who is attempting to influence voters and elected officials remains opaque, as dark money becomes a bigger and bigger part of elections. Meanwhile, anti-corruption laws go unenforced by a Federal Election Commission hopelessly mired in gridlock and unwilling to do its job as both parties embrace an ever-escalating political arms race.

This broken campaign finance system gives undue influence to lobbyists, special interests, and the wealthiest Americans, while the vast majority of ordinary citizens lack a seat at the table. That’s why we work to curb the growing influence of big money in politics and build a system that truly represents all Americans — not just the wealthy few.

We:

• Produce hard-hitting original research, reports, and analyses that are widely cited in the media on topics like dark money, leadership PACs, political megadonors, campaign fundraising, and who’s profited from candidates who have embraced lies about our elections.
• Spearhead crosspartisan coalitions to hold candidates and elected officials accountable to their constituents — not just those with deep pockets.
• Work to ensure that leadership PACs cannot be used as slush funds, prevent foreigners from influencing U.S. elections, and fix the ailing Federal Election Commission.
• Act as a resource for tracking big-money political players and uncovering donors to secretive dark money groups.

Our impact:

• Led a years-long effort to bring more transparency to the campaign finance system by having Senate candidates file reports online instead of on paper, culminating in the passage of the 2018 Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act.
• Led a crosspartisan coalition that urged all candidates in the 2020 and 2024 presidential races to disclose information about their big-money campaign “bundlers,” fundraisers who are often rewarded with special perks and government positions, such as ambassadorships.
• Published the “Outsized Influence” report on political megadonors, which received widespread press attention, including an exclusive story in the New York Times.
• Released a hard-hitting report that identified nine of the most notable companies and political consultants that profited from election denialism and anti-democracy candidates during the 2022 midterm elections.