Dark money

For other uses, see Dark Money (disambiguation).

Anti-"dark money" advertisement in April 2015 in the Union Station stop of the Washington Metro. The image was part of a comic book-themed campaign sponsored by three groups—AVAAZ, the Corporate Reform Coalition, and Public Citizen—aimed at pressuring Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Jo White to rein in dark money.[1][2]
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In politics, particularly the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public.

In the United States, some types of nonprofit organizations may spend money on campaigns without disclosing who their donors are. The most common type of dark money group is the 501(c)(4) (often called social welfare organizations).[3][4] Such organizations can receive unlimited donations from corporations, individuals and unions. Proponents of dark money maintain it is protected under the First Amendment, while critics complain recipients of dark money (as with any contribution) are beholden to their funders, while voters are kept in the dark about connections between donor and politician when favors are paid back.[5]

Dark money entered the politics of the United States with Buckley v. Valeo (1976), when the United States Supreme Court laid out "Eight Magic Words" that define the difference between electioneering and issue advocacy – exempting the latter from election finance laws. Dark campaign spending increased from less than $5.2 million in 2006 to well over $300 million in the 2012 presidential cycle, more than $174 million in the 2014 midterms,[3] $216 million in the 2014 midterm elections,[5] and more than $1 billion in all 2020 federal elections.[6] The 2010 landmark case, Citizens United v. FEC, marked the turning point when dark money contributions surged, and some political groups began contending that they were not required to register with the FEC as any sort of PAC because their primary purpose was something other than electoral politics.[7] As of 2022, the non-profit OpenSecrets states that Dark money is "pouring" into U.S. elections, but not only are its donors not being disclosed, the total quantity of the dark money isn't either. "The vast majority" of what is spent "is not being disclosed to the Federal Election Commission".[8]

In the 2020 election cycle, there were more than $1 billion in undisclosed spending; of that money, $514 million was spent to help Democrats and $200 million was spent to help Republicans.[9] A New York Times analysis found that after a decade spent attacking undisclosed political spending on the right, the Democratic Party "embraced dark money with fresh zeal," spending over $1.5 billion in undisclosed cash in the 2020 election cycle and outspending the Republican Party.[10]

  1. ^ Joseph P. Williams, She's Got the Power: Will SEC Chief Order Clean(er) Elections?, U.S. News & World Report (April 14, 2015).
  2. ^ Avaaz Uses Comics in a campaign targeting the Security and Exchange Commission, Graphic Policy (April 1, 2015).
  3. ^ a b "Political Nonprofits". OpenSecrets. 2015. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  4. ^ Robert Maguire, How 2014 Is Shaping Up to be the Darkest Money Election to Date, OpenSecrets (April 30, 2014).
  5. ^ a b Editorial, Dark Money Helped Win the Senate, The New York Times (November 8, 2014).
  6. ^ Article, [1], OpenSecrets.org (March 17, 2021).
  7. ^ Biersack, Bob (February 7, 2018). "8 years later: How Citizens United changed campaign finance". OpenSecrets.org. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
  8. ^ Massoglia, Anna. "Dark money gets darker with less disclosure in the 2022 election". OpenSecrets. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  9. ^ Cohen, Rachel M. (December 2, 2021). "The Democratic Dilemma on Dark Money". The American Prospect.
  10. ^ Vogel, Kenneth P.; Goldmacher, Shane (January 29, 2022). "Democrats Decried Dark Money. Then They Won With It in 2020". The New York Times. Retrieved January 31, 2022.