Super PACs are a “major threat to our democracy” warns Issue One on anniversary of ruling that created them

On the 16th anniversary of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit’s SpeechNow v. Federal Election Commission decision (which ushered in the super PAC era using the logic of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling), Issue One released the following statement:

“Now more than ever, it’s clear that large contributions to super PACs pose a significant risk of corruption and are a major threat to our democracy,” said Issue One Director of Money in Politics Reform Michael Beckel.

“Policymakers and the courts must recognize what’s plain to see: Large contributions to super PACs implicate corruption and the appearance of corruption in ways that clearly fall within the zone of permissible regulation. Robust anti-corruption guardrails in the super PAC era are necessary to preserve representative self-government.”

Read more about what’s at stake on the 16th anniversary of the SpeechNow ruling in Beckel’s latest analysis on Substack.

Background:

The concentrated power of the richest Americans has only grown since the SpeechNow and Citizens United court rulings in 2010.

Earlier this month, the New York Times revealed that 300 billionaires and their families accounted for 19% of all reported federal campaign contributions in the 2023-2024 election cycle.

That’s up from accounting for just 0.3% of all federal campaign contributions during the 2007-2008 election cycle, the last election before Citizens United, SpeechNow, and other legal decisions that have eroded anti-corruption safeguards.

Relatedly, Issue One previously reported that just 12 political megadonors and their spouses — at least 8 of whom were billionaires — were responsible for about 7.5% of all money in federal elections between 2010 and 2020. Half of these megadonors generally supported Democrats and half generally supported Republicans.

Notably, these totals do not account for money that wealthy donors contribute through dark money groups that do not have to disclose their donors.

As Issue One reported earlier this month, the four main super PACs focused on helping Democrats and Republicans win House and Senate elections each raised about 20% of their respective war chests from affiliated dark money groups during the 2023-2024 election cycle — more than $190 million in funds from anonymous donors and unknown special interests.