Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

Outside political spending crosses $1 billion mark

Outside groups have spent more than $1 billion trying to influence this year's election, and the tidal wave of special interest money so no signs of abating in the 10 days that remain before Election Day.

Super PACs that stay off the air

With early voting starting Saturday in Florida, a Miami-based group of community organizers and union members will be undertaking a major push across five of the battleground state’s cities to get voters to the polls. 

Spending millions to end spending

Ironically, the super PAC named “Ending Spending Action Fund” may end up having the largest single donation to a super PAC. Records show Joe Ricketts, who built his fortune through Ameritrade, is trying to reduce spending by spending -- a lot.

Romney, Obama blitz Colorado with ads and visits

When GOP nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama arrive in this battleground state for campaign rallies over the next 24 hours, they'll be accompanied by a barrage of television ads on programs ranging from news broadcasts to The View to Jimmy Kimmel to General Hospital.

A sketch of the Stealthy Wealthy

Here are some of the donors we've featured so far in our continuing Stealthy Wealthy series. Keep watching for more. Meanwhile, Sunlight will be watching to see what these business people are seeking as a return on their investments.

Political donors' million dollar check club: September edition

A relative handful of mega-donors capable of writing seven-figure checks, thanks to the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United that opened the door for unlimited campaign contributions, have fuelled this fall's dizzying rise in outside political spending, which jumped from $14 million the week ending Sept. 1 to $110 million the week ending Oct. 20, according to Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker.

Last-minute Democratic political donations don't close the money gap

A flood of last-minute largesse from Democratic donors helped Priorities USA Action, the super PAC backing President Barack Obama's reelection, outraise its Republican counterpart for the second month in a row in September. But Republican-leaning outside spenders still headed into the last full month of the campaign with a huge cash advantage, an analysis of records filed overnight at the Federal Election Commission by Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker shows.

Pro-Romney super PAC: $100 million and counting

Restore Our Future has hit a fundraising milestone: The super PAC supporting Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has clocked $100 million in contributions since it was organized just two years ago this month.

Democratic super PACs come into their own

Rapper donor, mystery million and other fun finds in pop-up PAC filings

(Updated 8:42 a.m. Oct. 16)

Buzzfeed's five surprising charts show impact of Citizens United

Buzzfeed offers five surprising charts about political money in the 2012 election cycle, feeding off of this recent release from the Federal Election Commission tallying up contributions and spending through June 2012. What they show--by omission--is how much Citizens United and subsequent court decisions and FEC rulings have changed the way campaigns raise and spend money. A few examples:

Gross 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 money bombers: Which outside spenders have the most for the homestretch?

Heading into the final stages of the 2012 campaign, the super PAC in position to have the biggest impact, by far and away, is American Crossroads, Sunlight's Follow the Unlimited Money tracker shows.

Super PAC Profile: CREDO takes aim at House freshmen

The CREDO SuperPAC exists in spite of—or because of?—its own desire to overturn Citizens United, the Supreme Court case that led to the creation of super PACs. “We wouldn't launch this SuperPAC unless we felt it was absolutely necessary to fight back,” says the group's website. But this sort of self-loathing isn’t the group's only unusual trait. Among organizations whose purpose is to obscure funding sources, CREDO is unique in its transparency.