The Supreme Court on Thursday handed a setback -- and an ominous warning -- to a labor giant that has been one of the most generous bankrollers of the super PACs backing President Obama and other Democratic candidates.
At issue in the case: tactics that the Service Employees International Union, which has bankrolled a constellation of Democratic super PACs to the tune of more than $3 million, used to beef up its political warchest in California during 2005. SEIU imposed a special assessment on its members to fight a pair of ballot initiatives aimed at public service unions. The high court ruled ...
Continue readingWho’s behind $1 million in corporate donations to Romney-aligned super PAC?
Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting Mitt Romney, accepted three donations totaling $1 million from three different corporate entities at the same Dayton, Ohio post office box, according to campaign finance reports filed Wednesday. The checks--two for $333,333 and one for $333,334--were all dated May 22.
The checks came from "Waterbury Properties, LLC", "Fairbanks Properties LLC" and "CRC Information Systems, Inc." all with a return address of P.O. Box 2608, Dayton, Ohio 45401. CRC Information Systems was bought by The Reynolds and Reynolds Company in 2008--which has listed the same P.O. Box as a return ...
Continue readingForget super PACs—unregistered committees are election’s dark horse
Super PACs get so much attention these days because they are a novel and easy way for donors who can write large checks to influence elections. But there's another avenue for big money to enter politics that's ideal for donors who'd rather keep their identities cloaked and that, thanks to a recent court decision, may be about to get more popular.
So far in the 2012 election cycle, some $9 million has been spent to help elect or defeat candidates for federal office by entities that don't have to disclose where they got their money. About ...
Continue readingSuper PACs flock to Arizona, North Dakota, Virginia
Voters head to the polls for primaries in six states today, with those in Arizona, North Dakota and Virginia inundated with the most money from super PACs trying to influence their votes. Here's a rundown of what outside groups are spending in the Grand Canyon, Peace Garden, and Old Dominion states, according to Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker:
Special Election: Arizona's 8th Congressional District
Among today's races, the special election to fill the remaining term of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who resigned in January to focus on her rehabiliation, has attracted the most outside money ...
Continue readingAmericans for Prosperity campaigns without leaving a paper trail in Wisconsin
Much has been written about what Tuesday's Wisconsin recall race says about the influence of big money on politics, but the real story may be the influence of the money we don't know about.
Less than three hours after Democrat Tom Barrett conceded the $63 million-and-counting contest to Gov. Scott Walker, Americans for Prosperity, the big spending conservative group, sent an email to supporters hailing Walker's win and including a video highlight reel about "how AFP educated Wisconsin residents about Governor Walker's budget reforms."
The video shows footage of the customized AFP bus that rolled through ...
Continue readingRealtors take out big mortgage on California House race
Tuesday's contest in California's 31st Congressional District morphed into the biggest outside money spending spree of any House primary so far, thanks a massive influx of funds by the National Association of Realtors on behalf of Rep. Gary Miller.
Late unofficial returns from the California Secretary of State's office show that Miller, a seven-term Republican running in a new district, topped a six-person field with nearly 27 percent of the votes cast, winning a slot on November's ballot. Because of a new California primary system that sends the top two finishers in a free-for-all primary to ...
Continue readingSuper PACs loom large in today’s primaries in California, New Mexico, Montana
As voters go to the polls in six states today, super PACs and other outside groups are playing an outsize role in some of the high profile contests, as incumbent members of Congress square off against other incumbents due to redistricting, special interests duke it out in one district, and Democrats try to avoid being beaten out by an indepedent for the fall ballot. Here's a rundown of some of the spending:
Sherman v. Berman
Thanks to redistricting, one of the most high profile contests pits two House Democrats against each other in California's San Fernando Valley, where ...
Continue readingShining Light on Political Advertising
For most Americans, the incessant barrage of political ads on TV are still a few months away. But in Wisconsin,... View Article
Continue readingBig donors to Democratic super PACs visited White House
Though President Barack Obama called super PACs a "threat to democracy" before embracing them last February in his own reelection effort, he and members of his inner circle had no trouble meeting with the kind of people who contribute to them. At least 16 individuals who gave money to some of the major outside spending groups had meetings with White House officials--including Obama himself.
The group of 16 includes major Democratic donors, bundlers for Obama's campaign and a few individuals who have official roles in the administration. Some have frequent access to both the president and his inner circle ...
Continue readingSuper PACs play big in Texas
A flood of tea party money reshaped the Texas political landscape Tuesday, ousting a seven-term Democratic congressman who had campaign help from former President Bill Clinton, and forcing a one-time favorite for the Republican Senate nomination into a runoff.
The Associated Press is calling the ouster of veteran Rep. Silvestre Reyes, seen at right, a "stunner" that almost guarantees the heavily Democratic south Texas district will be represented in Congress next year by Beto O'Rourke, an ex-El Paso city councilman who favors the legalization of marijuana. Reyes out-raised O'Rourke by nearly $700,000 but the tea-party-affiliated Campaign for ...
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