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October 22, 2020
This week in money-in-politics
 
Outside spending reaches record $2 billion as
super PACs hammer Trump


Big-money groups backed primarily by billionaire donors are unleashing an unprecedented amount of outside money into key races.

Outside spending has already surpassed $2 billion, smashing the outside spending record set in the 2016 election with two weeks to go before Election Day. That’s according to OpenSecrets’ outside spending tracker, which follows efforts by super PACs, political parties and “dark money” nonprofits, among other groups, to influence elections.

The 2020 election will be the most expensive ever by a large margin, and no election has ever seen anywhere near this amount of outside money. The bulk of that outside spending — $1.7 billion — comes from super PACs and hybrid PACs, groups that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money independently of campaigns thanks to the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court ruling.

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Biden heads into final weeks with record cash advantage


President Donald Trump entered the final stretch of the 2020 election with little cash left to spend. Trump’s once mighty financial advantage appears to be a major liability against Democratic nominee Joe Biden, who is crushing fundraising records. Trump’s campaign raised $81 million in September but burned through $139 million, leaving his campaign with just $63 million on hand.
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Senate GOP ‘dark money’ group passing millions to super PAC, avoiding disclosure
 

Senate Republican leadership-aligned “dark money” group One Nation has funneled around $75 million into 2020 elections without ever disclosing a dime to the Federal Election Commission, new campaign finance filings and ad records show. One Nation bankrolled around $40 million in TV ads across at least eleven states.
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From South Carolina to Maine, out-of-state donors give big in Senate races


Out-of-state donors are fueling the cash raised in the most competitive U.S. Senate races this year. A diverse set of candidates, from Jaime Harrison in South Carolina to Amy McGrath in Kentucky to both contenders for the Maine Senate, are receiving over 90 percent of their contributions from out-of-state supporters. It’s relatively standard that closely-watched Senate races are inundated with out-of-state donations.
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Adelsons give big to GOP super PACs,
setting new donation record


The casino-owning couple and perennial super-spenders Sheldon and Miriam Adelson set a new record for donations from individuals in a single election cycle, giving $172.7 million.

The 2020 election cycle is projected to cost a record-smashing $11 billion. So far, an unprecedented amount, $2 billion, comes from outside spending groups, which can receive unlimited funds from wealthy billionaires like the Adelsons. The couple gave $170 million in outside spending this year. As they have for 30 years, all their donations went to Republicans and conservative groups.

More articles from OpenSecrets:
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Outside Spending Records Broken this Week
With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, a number of records have already been smashed.

OpenSecrets in the News

See our media citations from outlets around the nation this week:  

The Washington Post
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Associated Press
Marketplace
CNBC
CNN
Reuters
Aspen Public Radio
Bangor Daily News
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
Dallas Morning News
Oregon Public Broadcasting
The Fresno Bee
The Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle
Alabama Media Group
The Colorado Sun
KSTP - Minneapolis
KTRH - Houston
The Australian Broadcasting Company

 

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