Super PACs, trade associations and other nonprofit groups that made campaign expenditures spent roughly $46.1 million on web ads. Though the Obama campaign considerably outspent Romney's campaign on web advertising, outside Republican outside spenders ponied up nearly five times more on online advertising than liberal outside groups, according to independent expenditure filings with the FEC.
Continue readingEleven House races drawing 11th-hour outside money
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It doesn't take a whole lot of money to make a big difference in some House races, and as the days dwindle down to hours before polls close on Nov. 6, some outside interest groups are trying to do just that. Sunlight's weekly survey of independent campaign expenditures found that some congressional contests that hadn't previously registered on our radar were suddenly drawing lots of outside cash late in the campaign.
Seven of ...
Continue readingTwo Midwestern states targets of gun violence and the NRA
Two states struggling with gun violence this fall, Wisconsin and Michigan, also have been targeted for campaign expenditures by the National Rifle Association.
The big gun rights group appears to have its biggest political footprint in Wisconsin, where a gunman on Sunday shot seven women -- three fatally -- before killing himself in state's second mass shooting this year. Of the $5.9 millon the NRA Political Victory Fund, has spent so far to defeat President Barack Obama, at least some has gone to Wisconsin. While the Federal Election Commission does not require independent expenditure groups to identify ...
Continue readingGross Political Product: Outside campaign spending tops 2010 total
In a campaign that's supposed to be about an ailing economy, there's just one financial indicator that remains consistently robust: Call it the Gross Political Product.
The latest signal of just how profitable a business politics remains is available on Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money, which shows outside spending at nearly $465 million as of Sunday evening. That's more than the total for the entire 2010 campaign, the first that took place following the Supreme Court's landmark Citizens United decision, which allowed corporations and unions to give in unlimited amounts.
This cycle's outside spending ...
Continue readingWisconsin’s Ron Johnson defends gun ownership
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican whose state is the site of the nation's most recent deadly shooting spree, this time at a Sikh temple, has benefitted from more than $1.3 million from gun rights groups, far more than any other member of Wisconsin's congressional delegation.
Overall, gun rights groups and associated individuals, dominated by the National Rifle Association (NRA), have poured $1.6 million into campaigns involving members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation, according to a search on Influence Explorer. In contrast, gun control groups have spent $11,300 since 1989.
Tea party enthusiast Johnson won ...
Continue readingGun interests spend millions to influence lawmakers
In the wake of the Batman movie massacre, Colorado's second mass killing in recent memory, much is being written about the unlikeliness of the tragedy leading to the kind of gun control legislation that might have prevented another troubled young man from amassing a huge arsenal. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was quoted in the New York Times on Saturday venting his frustration at the inertia of both major party's presidential candidates.
The gun lobby is one of the most influential in Washington -- as well as state capitals -- and figures available on Sunlight's Influence Explorer describe ...
Continue readingTold you so: Democrats voting against Holder got gun money
All 17 Democrats who sided with Republicans in Thursday's House vote to cite Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress have received contributions at some point in their careers from the political action committee of the National Rifle Association, which was lobbying hard to pass the resolution.
The Democrats who receive the most money from the NRA's PAC and also face competitive races were even more likely to side with the NRA. Of the eight Democrats in tight races in November that have received the most from NRA's PAC (see a chart of these lawmakers in ...
Continue readingGun money pushing some Democrats to vote against Holder?
Three Democrats who have said they plan to break party ranks in a historic rebuke of Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday are among the members of their party in tight races who have received the most money from the National Rifle Association's political action committee (PAC) over the course of their careers.
The National Journal reported Wednesday that Democratic Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah, John Barrow of Georgia and Nick Rahall of West Virginia have said they will vote with Republicans to find Holder in contempt of Congress because the attorney general has not released all the documents ...
Continue reading10 States Copied Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” Law
Some 24 states followed Florida in putting Stand Your Ground laws on their books, at least ten of which are... View Article
Continue readingOutside groups are insiders on D.C.’s fundraising scene
Last May Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., raised campaign cash at a reception at the offices of the National Association of Realtors and around the same time, the group's PAC sent his campaign a check for $4,000.
Four months later, in September, the PAC started spending big, but this time on independent expenditures. Three hundred thousand dollars for a campaign ad. Forty-six thousand dollars on Internet ads. By mid-October, the group had spent more than $576,000 in support of Reichert.
When groups make independent expenditures to support or oppose a candidacy, they are not supposed to coordinate in ...
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