In advance of an expected Supreme Court decision on campaign finance limits, the Sunlight Foundation and Center for Responsive Politics look at donors most likely to exceed them.
Continue readingBoth sides of gun debate see hope in Virginia elections
Outside spending groups on either side of the gun control debate find reasons for optimism after Virginia's tight gubernatorial race, in spite of the fact that issues like the economy, healthcare and ethics scandals seem to have been foremost on voters' minds.
Continue readingTV air wars in VA gov’s race? Not so much
A review of the race's top outside spenders -- compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project -- combined with political advertisements gathered by Sunlight's Political Ad Hawk and data from Influence Explorer, sheds a little more light on the strategies of the outside groups jockeying for Virginians' votes. These figures represent the ad money spent at the major news affiliates in the state's four biggest markets.
Continue readingDemocrats making shutdown an issue in swing races
Democrats are making a political bet that swing voters will make Republicans pay for the shutdown of the federal government.
Sunlight's Ad Hawk database, which tracks political ads and enables smartphone users to identify sources of money behind them, picked up four ads on Thursday by Democratic candidates or political action committees that tie GOP officeholders to the shutdown.
In Virginia, where voters go to the polls Nov. 5 to elect a new governor, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe is linking his GOP opponent, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, whose outspoken opposition to the implementation of ...
Continue readingClosure of disclosure, part II: Political ad filings go dark
The government shutdown is turning into a major denial of service for journalists and other citizens interested in tracking the influence of big money on politics.
Not only is it preventing scrutiny of campaign finance records -- potentially leaving voters in at least one Louisiana special election with NO information on donors before they head to the polls -- it's also making it next to impossible to provide up-to-date information on political ad buys.
The shuttering of the Federal Communications Commission's website has severely hamstrung Political Ad Sleuth, a tool that the Sunlight Foundation and Free Press developed last year to track those buys at hundreds of TV stations across the country.
And there are plenty of them -- some of them attempt to capitalize on the shutdown itself.
Ending Spending readies air war in Virginia governor’s race
Ending Spending, a group bankrolled by Chicago Cubs owner Joe Ricketts that spent $13 million in the last election, is gearing up in the Virginia Senate race.
Continue readingPanel considers big-time Obama funders for cushy overseas posts
Of seven potential new additions to U.S. diplomatic missions that the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will consider at a hearing Tuesday afternoon, three are among President Barack Obama's most successful fundraisers from his 2012 campaign.
The president's most recent flight of would-be ambassadors follows a familiar pattern: a mix of career members of the Foreign Service and mega-campaign bundlers.
Presidents have long reserved around 30 percent of available ambassadorships for political allies -- using plum diplomatic posts in U.S.-friendly nations to function as rewards for campaign loyalty. The widely-accepted practice has persisted for more than ...
Continue readingWyoming showdown: Enzi v. Cheney likely to set off a money scramble
The race between two well-connected Republicans will put big donors in a bind in Wyoming.
Continue readingAs Congress weighs gun control, many states try Congress control
Updated on April 5 at 1:42 p.m. ET (see below)
While attention is focused on the U.S. Senate, which could begin voting as early as next month on gun control legislation, some state lawmakers are trying to move in the opposite direction.
Bills to nullify any gun control measures that Congress enacts have been introduced in at least 37 states since the beginning of the year, according to an analysis using Scout, Sunlight's legislative alert system. To browse the list and click through to the text of the bills, click here.
Continue readingNew anti-Obama super PAC backed by pro-Israel Republican activists
A new Miami-based super PAC has surfaced with billboards opposing President Barack Obama in south Florida and plans to plant more in at least two other battleground states before Election Day. Backed by mostly Republican, pro-Israel activists, American Principles super PAC has spent about $220,000 so far and plans to spend $500,000 this election.
It's one of a number of pop up super PACs that are emerging just before the November election, barraging voters with advertisements before having to reveal any information about financial backers. American Principles will release its first list of donors by Oct. 20 ...
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