Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

1. When is a political ad not a campaign ad? Federal judge decides for FEC

   By Keenan Steiner Oct 5, 2012 6:34 p.m.

   The murky rules around electioneering ads may have gotten slightly less unclear this week, but not thanks to the Federal Election Commission.

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2. Outside spending tops $105 million--and counting--in just nine days

   By Keenan Steiner Oct 5, 2012 12:59 p.m.

   Outside spending groups--PACs, super PACs, nonprofits and party committees--have spent a staggering $105 million to influence federal elections over the past nine days. Overall, outside spending in the 2012 election is now just a few million short of $600 million, according to Sunlight’s Follow the Unlimited Money tracker.

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3. September outside spending breaks record

   By Keenan Steiner Oct 3, 2012 3:14 p.m.

   In September, outside spending crushed all past months on record, at over $200 million, according to Sunlight’s Follow the Unlimited Money tracker, and prior years' independent expenditure filings with the Center for Responsive Politics.

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4. In Ohio ad wars, the Democrats are on top

   By Keenan Steiner and Jake Harper Sep 26, 2012 11:48 a.m.

   In Ohio, which is playing host to both presidential campaigns today, Democrats appear to be pulling ahead in the money race -- and in the polls -- an analysis by the Sunlight Foundation has found.

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5. Federal election commissioners versus the Federal Election Commission

   By Keenan Steiner Sep 21, 2012 2:27 p.m.

   In an odd twist even for a federal agency known for its fecklessness and divisiveness, some commissioners are challenging their own commission. Typically they merely oppose each other--along partisan lines.

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6. Ryan attracts hundreds of D.C.-area donors at hotel fundraiser

   By Keenan Steiner Sep 21, 2012 8:41 a.m.

   With Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney campaign’s finances in some trouble, a fundraiser at an upscale Washington hotel Thursday featuring his runningmate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., attracted about 200 donors, according to an estimate from one who paid $1,000 to attend.

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7. Texas-sized lobbyist bundler shuns Democrats' super PACs

   By Keenan Steiner Sep 7, 2012 7:41 a.m.

   CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Democratic super PACs and other outside political groups will be deprived of the party's most generous 2010 bankroller this election: Donor and bundler extraordinaire Ben Barnes is repudiating the outfits that don't provide full financial disclosure.

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8. First lady courts LGBT donors over lunch

   By Keenan Steiner Sep 5, 2012 10 p.m.

   CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After a rousing convention speech Tuesday night that, among other things, commended LGBT Americans for their courage to marry, Michelle Obama spent about an hour Wednesday at a downtown Charlotte Marriott courting well-heeled gay donors.

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9. At Democratic super PACs briefing, strategists ask for more cash

   By Keenan Steiner Sep 4, 2012 10:19 p.m.

   CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- If there were millionaires at Tuesday's happy hour for prospective donors of the three major super PACs backing congressional Democrats and President Obama, they were not the recognizable backers of the groups. And there was not much exclusive about the affair.

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10. Group of Democratic governors stand out among party-planners in Charlotte

    By Keenan Steiner Sep 4, 2012 9:39 a.m.

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It’s hard to get the nation's 20 Democratic governors in one place. But that didn't stop party organizers from trying with a swanky, '70s-themed event here Monday night, complete with women in go-go outfits dancing on tables and an ABBA cover band at a two-story downtown club.

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11. Access denied: Koch funded group bars Sunlight in Tampa

    By Keenan Steiner Aug 30, 2012 9:40 p.m.

    It was billed as a free Republican National Convention event that nonprofit group Americans for Prosperity was holding to honor two of its big funders, conservative billionaire David Koch and North Carolina businessman and political donor Art Pope. But when Sunlight tried to join the party on Thursday afternoon, the door was closed to us.

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12. Protesters evicted at Republican convention event

    By Keenan Steiner Aug 30, 2012 11:47 a.m.

    “What have I done to be kicked off the property?” retired teacher Karen Saal asked a security guard outside the Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore Hotel. The guard's answer: the hotel manager specifically asked that she go. And she wasn't alone. Officials were also ushering peace activists off the hotel property after they interrupted a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) honoring pro-Israel members of Congress during the Republican National Convention.

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13. The three-tiered pyramid convention

    By Keenan Steiner Aug 29, 2012 1:36 p.m.

    (CORRECTION: This post has been updated to reflect a the correct time for today's YG Network event)

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14. Taxpayers paying for convention observers

    By Keenan Steiner Aug 28, 2012 3:52 p.m.

    TAMPA -- Not everyone can afford to go to Tampa—but taxpayers are footing the bill for some executive branch officials: the members of the Federal Election Commission.

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Investigations by Sunlight Foundation reporter Keenan Steiner