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May 28, 2020
This week in money-in-politics
 
Conservative ‘dark money’ network rebranded to push voting restrictions before 2020 election
 
 

A powerful new conservative organization fighting to restrict voting in the 2020 presidential election is really just a rebranded group that is part of a dark money network already helping President Donald Trump’s unprecedented effort to remake the federal judiciary, the Guardian and OpenSecrets reveal.

The organization, which calls itself the Honest Elections Project, seemed to emerge out of nowhere a few months ago and started stoking fears about voter fraud. Backed by a dark money group funded by right-wing stalwarts like the Koch brothers and Betsy DeVos’ family, the Honest Elections Project is part of the network that pushed Supreme Court picks Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsurch, and is quickly becoming a juggernaut in the escalating fight over voting rights.   

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CRP op-ed in USA Today: China’s hidden targeting of Donald Trump one reason Facebook needs new cybersecurity approach
 
Wednesday, USA Today published an opinion piece by our executive director Sheila Krumholz and Laura Edelson, a Ph.D. candidate and online ads researcher at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering. The op-ed argues that too many loopholes exist for bad actors to influence our elections and it’s time for social media platforms — particularly Facebook —to get serious about closing them. To do that, they should embrace new approaches, including tried and true cybersecurity techniques that reveal vulnerabilities in disclosure of online political ads. Read the piece, check out our new online ads data for Trump and Biden and send us your thoughts at [email protected].

CRP's online ad tracking initiative is funded in part through generous support from the Democracy Fund and the Wallace Global Fund.
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Outside groups help Biden close the digital ad gap with Trump on Facebook


High-powered super PACs are helping presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden make up ground on social media against President Donald Trump, who has dominated online advertising since he took office. The Trump campaign outspent Biden $18.5 million to $11.2 million on Facebook ads since the start of 2020, according to new online ad data published on OpenSecrets’ presidential profiles in partnership with the Wesleyan Media Project.
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‘Dark money’ networks hide political agendas behind fake news sites


At a time when trustworthy journalism is more important than ever, political operations are pouring millions of “dark money” dollars into ads and digital content masquerading as news coverage to influence the 2020 election. One newer group heralding the new era of pseudo-news outlets is ACRONYM, a liberal dark money group with an affiliated super PAC called PACRONYM.
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Presidential candidates court wealthy donors while Trump dominates small-dollar fundraising


Each of the leading presidential campaigns are courting wealthy donors to boost their bottom lines. But President Donald Trump has a distinct advantage in the money race over Joe Biden — small-dollar fundraising. OpenSecrets estimates 64% of Trump’s campaign cash comes from small donors when accounting for transfers from Trump’s small-dollar joint fundraising committee, totaling $174 million through April.
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Meet a new member of the OpenSecrets team: Journalism Intern Ian Karbal
 

Ian began his internship at the Center for Responsive Politics in May after graduating from Columbia Journalism School. Before moving to New York, Ian worked as a reporter in Perry County, Illinois covering local government and courts. His investigative series on racially biased and for-profit policing earned him a 2019 Freedom of Information Award from the National Newspaper Association and a nomination for best data journalism for the Chicago Headline Club’s Peter Lisagor Awards.
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Democratic super PAC meddles in contentious GOP primary
 
 

A Democratic super PAC is funding attack ads in an already derisive GOP primary race in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, calling attention to years-old anti-Trump tweets by one of the candidates. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (D-N.M.) won the long-held Republican seat by less than 2 points in a 2018 race against former state Rep. Yvette Herrell, who is again seeking the Republican nomination.

Democrats appear to be pushing for a rematch. Liberal super PAC Patriot Majority is funding attack ads targeting Herrell’s opponent, Claire Chase, the former chairwoman of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association who is married to the heir of Mack Energy. The ads call attention to anti-Trump tweets made by Chase in 2015 and 2016 as both Republican candidates try to frame themselves as bigger supporters of the president. Both candidates’ campaigns have run attack ads painting the other as anti-Trump.  

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OpenSecrets in the News

See our media citations from outlets around the nation this week:  
Politico 
MarketWatch
The Guardian
Bloomberg Law
The Washington Free Beacon
New Jersey Advance
Arizona Daily Star
The Charlotte Observer
Clinton Herald
Alabama Political Reporter
HuffPost
Slate

 

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