Also: A look at South Carolina, Super Tuesday and CPAC
Your weekly newsletter on money in politics.
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February 27th, 2020
This week in money-in-politics
The 2020 Democratic primary is already the most expensive ever
With only a sprinkling of delegates pledged to presidential contenders, the 2020 Democratic primary is already the most expensive. Candidates vying for the Democratic nomination have spent more than $1.2 billion, more than they shelled out throughout 2008 or 2016.
Two billionaires, Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, are driving the spending record by self-funding their campaigns at unprecedented levels. They account for more than half of the total spending by primary candidates. But even when excluding the two billionaires, the 2020 Democratic primary is still the most expensive of its kind at this point in the cycle.
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** South Carolina donors give the greatest amount to Biden as Sanders cuts into the lead
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Joe Biden is placing his bets on a state that is his stronghold, South Carolina, after placing a distant second in the Nevada caucuses and trailing in the New Hampshire and Iowa contests. Biden is receiving the largest amount of campaign cash from South Carolina donors compared with his Democratic presidential opponents.
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** Who is funding the anti-Bernie Sanders super PAC?
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Several outside groups are trying to slow the momentum of current Democratic presidential frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) by spending millions on ad buys, as he continues to dominate the polls. The campaign against Sanders originated with hybrid PAC Democratic Majority for Israel, a pro-Israel moderate group, that spent over $1.4 million against Sanders.
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** ‘Dark money’ trail leads to GOP meddling in North Carolina Democratic primary
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Senate Republicans bankrolled a super PAC that spent millions attempting to take down Democrats’ preferred challenger to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) in the North Carolina Democratic primary, new filings show. The Republican super PAC meddling in the primary is one of the top recipients of “dark money” this cycle.
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CPAC gets cozy with opaque groups and foreign sponsors
This week marks another year of America’s long-running annual gathering of conservative activists at the 46th Conservative Political Action Conference. Similar to prior years, the 2020 CPAC conference is funded by obscure groups, including foreign entities.
Five big sponsors paid at least $125,000 for the distinction of marquee billing at CPAC to be listed just under the American Conservative Union itself and its partner, a medical bill sharing organization called Liberty Healthshare. These top-tier sponsors include the Republican National Committee as well as conservative allies such as the National Rifle Association.
In exchange for the $125,000 sponsorship package, these groups enjoy perks such as on-site branding and public acknowledgment as well as branded social media posts. Those show up on Twitter, which has a policy against promoted political advertising, and Facebook, which recently instituted new disclosure rules for reporting partnership agreements resulting in branded content.
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Academic Study: Oil and gas companies invest in legislators that vote against the environment
Published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, this new study conducted by researchers at Yale University and the University of Cambridge used data from OpenSecrets and the League of Conservation Voters to test their hypothesis, "The more a given member of Congress votes against environmental policies, the more contributions they receive from oil and gas companies supporting their reelection."
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OpenSecrets in the News
See where we've been cited by media outlets around the nation this week:
* ** Private-Equity Leaders Place Their Presidential Bets (The Wall Street Journal) ([link removed])
Employees of private equity and investment firms spent more than $41 million on 2020 races for the White House and Congress through Feb. 3, somewhat favoring Democrats over Republicans.
* ** How Republican Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan teamed with a climate-crusading Democrat to pass an ocean cleanup bill (Anchorage Daily News) ([link removed])
The oil and gas industry has been a leading source of Contributions for Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), but he has teamed up with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a top recipient of environmentalist contributions, on an ocean cleanup bill.
* ** Steyer pours money into black organizations ahead of primaries (Politico) ([link removed])
Tom Steyer is pumping money into black organizations in South Carolina and other early voting states, seeking every possible foothold with the coveted voting bloc.
** The Washington Post ([link removed])
** Politico ([link removed])
** CNN ([link removed])
** CNBC ([link removed])
** Gothamist ([link removed])
** The Washington Free Beacon ([link removed])
** Roll Call ([link removed])
** The Albany Times Union ([link removed])
** New Jersey Advance ([link removed])
** ABC Tuscon ([link removed])
** The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ([link removed])
** Appalachian News-Express ([link removed])
** Mansfield News Journal ([link removed])
** The Cincinnati Enquirer ([link removed])
** The Olympian ([link removed])
** San Jose Inside ([link removed])
** The Intercept ([link removed])
** The Duke Chronicle ([link removed])
** The Atlantic ([link removed])
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