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Republican leaning groups spend heavily on Nevada Senate race
By Lindsay Young Oct 22, 2010 10:14 a.m.The Nevada Senate toss-up between Majority Leader Harry Reid and Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle is one of the races which has seen close to $10 milion spent by outside groups to influence voters. The stakes are high and the ads are scathing. So far, the spending is skewed in favor of Angle where Republican-leaning groups have spent over $7.8 million, according to data reported to the Federal Election Commission.
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Outside groups are insiders on D.C.'s fundraising scene
By Nancy Watzman Oct 21, 2010 12:29 p.m.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.
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Dark money: Super PACs fueled by $97.5 million that can't be traced to donors
By Ryan Sibley Oct 20, 2010 11:31 a.m.Of the $189 million spent so far by Super PACs, non-profits and labor unions to influence the 2010 mid-term elections, $97.5 million has come from groups that do not disclose any donors, an analysis of Federal Election Commission contribution records shows. That is, about 52 percent of the money spent so far on everything from political ads to phone banks to fliers promoting or opposing federal candidates has come from groups that don't disclose the sources of their funds.*
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Dead end disclosure: Super PAC's biggest giver is a shadowy nonprofit with links to Sarah Palin
By Ryan Sibley Oct 20, 2010 11:29 a.m.Citizens for a Working America PAC, a political organization that's spent $250,000 to oppose the reelection of Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., discloses its contributions to the Federal Election Commission. Its contributor (it has only one) is New Models, a Virginia-based non-profit organized under section 501(c)4 of the Internal Revenue Code, that doesn't disclose its donors.
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Right-leaning outside groups outspending opposition by $40.8 million
By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 18, 2010 2:16 p.m.Republican-leaning Super PACs and non-party political organizations have reported spending $40.8 million more on mid-term elections than those supporting Democrats, an analysis of Federal Election Commission data shows.
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Did Murkowski certify that Alaskans Standing Together isn't working with Murkowski?
By Bill Allison Oct 17, 2010 6:14 p.m.Alaskans Standing Together is a Super PAC funded by federal contractors based in the 49th state that's trying to help Sen. Lisa Murkowski remain in Congress through a write-in campaign. The organization filed its third quarter disclosure report with the Federal Election Commission on Oct. 13 and an amended version on Oct. 15; on the last page of each, the FEC requires Alaskans Standing Together to avow that it's not working with any candidate or party committee--that it's truly independent. The exact language reads as follows:
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Editor's note: Tracking another Super PAC
By Bill Allison Oct 15, 2010 3:45 p.m.Michael Dubke gets around. He's a partner at Crossroads Media, LLC, which buys airtime for political ads for Super PACs and candidates. He "exercises control" (the Federal Election Commission term) over Partnership for America's Future, which buys ads from Crossroads Media. He founded Americans for Job Security, which also buys ads from Crossroads Media. Another Crossroads Media client is Alliance for America's Future, run by Mary Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Richard Cheney. Cheney's former political director, Kara Ahern, works for Alliance for America's Future, filing its disclosures with the FEC. She's also custodian and assistant treasurer for Partnership for America's Future. Her boss there, treasurer Barry Bennett, is a director of Alliance for America's Future.
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More cash spent on attack ads than ones supporting candidates
By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 15, 2010 3:37 p.m.When all the independent influence is added up, Republicans have a $21 million advantage so far over Democrats, a review of Federal Election Commission data shows.
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Paper trail shows ties between newly registered 'Super PAC,' other groups
By Aaron Bycoffe Oct 15, 2010 3:14 p.m.Earlier this month, Partnership for America's Future filed a letter with the Federal Election Commission declaring that it will take contributions of unlimited amounts and spend them on independent expenditures. According to its website, the organization is "dedicated to supporting efforts designed to elect Republican candidates to office during the 2010 election cycle." In the process, the recently-minted Super PAC is supporting and supported by a web of Republican operatives and institutions that have played an outsized role in the 2010 elections.
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Outside spending hits the $200 million mark
By Anupama Narayanswamy Oct 14, 2010 1:12 p.m.Spending by outside groups trying to influence the mid-term elections increased by a staggering $78 million in the last week, pushing the total spent by non-profits, labor unions and party committees to more than $200 million this cycle. That's an 80 percent increase from 2006, the last mid-term election.
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Contractor Super PAC Alaskans Standing Together backs Murkowski
By Ryan Sibley Oct 13, 2010 1:46 p.m.Alaskans Standing Together, a Super PAC that takes unlimited contributions from any source, raised $805,000 in contributions from nine federal contractors, all of them Alaska Native corporations, and is spending its money—$595,000 so far—to support the state's incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
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The DCCC picks up spending as Election Day nears
By Ryan Sibley Oct 7, 2010 5:18 p.m.In just three days, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent nearly $7 million in independent expenditures—doubling their spending in this arena to $14 million. On Monday, it was reported that the DCCC had spent only $7 million in IEs for the entire election cycle to support its party's attempt to maintain power in congress.
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Editor's Notebook: Following the muddled money
By Bill Allison Oct 7, 2010 3:03 p.m.Over the weekend, I came across a new group in our Follow the Unlimited Money tool called CSS Action Fund. I googled the group and didn't find anything about it; by Monday they'd set up a website. Curious, I asked Ryan Sibley, who's been all things post-Citizens United for us, to see what she could find out about the group.
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'Grassroots' group grows mainly in offices of D.C. law and PR firms
By Ryan Sibley Oct 7, 2010 11:54 a.m.A political committee called Citizens for Strength and Security Action Fund--usually abbreviated as CSS Action Fund--claims to be active across the country promoting the best solutions to America's problems, but the limited disclosures available about the group suggest that it's a creature of the beltway. The organization, which made its first noise in the 2010 mid-term elections by spending $640,000 supporting Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash in late September, shares a Washington, D.C. address with similar advocacy groups and lists political pros as its main players.*
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