Open Secrets Report: Outside Groups Are Spending More Than Some Congressional Candidates

The influence of outside money is growing at an alarming rate. Outside money refers to money that is spent on behalf of a candidate, instead of donating directly to them. If that seems confusing, just imagine you had a million dollars you wanted to spend in order to get your favorite candidate elected to Congress. Remember, the Congressional campaign contribution limit is $2,700.  To get around that limit you could simply spend your million dollars on mailers and commercials promoting your candidate. As long as you don’t give the money directly to the campaign or coordinate with the candidate’s campaign directly, you aren’t breaking any laws. This is a routine way that special interest groups get around campaign finance laws to influence elections, and the amount of outside money spent has increased drastically over the last ten years.

The Center for Responsible Politics (opensecrets.org) recently published a report showing that in 27 Congressional races the amount of outside money spent was more than the actual campaigns themselves spent. This report is the latest evidence of just how much power special interest groups have in American politics. Click here to read the Open Secrets article in its entirety.

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Jon Biggerstaff

Executive Director, Clean Slate Now