OpenSecrets' weekly newsletter on Money-in-Politics
Your weekly newsletter on money in politics.
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
[link removed]
Your donation to OpenSecrets, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is tax deductible ([link removed])
December 10, 2020
This week in money-in-politics
Nine of the 10 most expensive Senate races
of all time happened in 2020
([link removed])
The 2020 Senate races brought home trophy after trophy in the arena of campaign finance. When considering combined candidate and outside spending, this year’s elections gave rise to nine of the 10 most expensive Senate races ever. Combined, these nine races cost close to $2.1 billion, contributing to the estimated record $14 billion spent during the 2020 election cycle.
The Carolinas take the cake as the two most expensive Senate races ever. North Carolina came in at No. 1 with a total cost of $298.9 million. The 2020 South Carolina Senate race totaled $276.9 million.
Read More ([link removed])
[link removed] Share ([link removed])
[link removed] http%3A%2F%2Feepurl.com%2FhlmcLn Tweet ([link removed] http%3A%2F%2Feepurl.com%2FhlmcLn)
[link removed] Forward to Friend ([link removed])
[link removed]
** Pharma lobby poured millions into ‘dark money’ groups influencing 2020 election
------------------------------------------------------------
Pharmaceutical companies’ top lobbying group funneled millions of dollars to prominent “dark money” groups that pushed industry friendly messages to lawmakers and 2020 voters. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America raised nearly $527 million last year and spent roughly $506 million, new tax returns obtained by OpenSecrets reveal. That’s a record haul for the organization, which is funded by the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies. The trade association made its largest political donation of 2019 to the American Action Network, a dark money group.
Read More ([link removed])
[link removed]
** Biden Cabinet picks worked alongside influential lobbyists at private equity firm
------------------------------------------------------------
Two of President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees worked alongside top Washington lobbyists at a private equity firm that touted its “access, network and expertise” in the defense industry. Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, Biden’s pick for secretary of defense, and Antony Blinken, his choice to lead the State Department, worked as “D.C. partners” for Pine Island Capital Partners, an investment firm specializing in defense companies. They advised the firm alongside several influential lawmakers-turned-lobbyists, including former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt.
Read More ([link removed])
[link removed]
** GOP Senate groups have fives times more cash for Georgia runoffs
------------------------------------------------------------
With less than one month until the Georgia Senate runoffs, American voters outside the Peach State are frantically donating to candidates and committees there, hoping their party can secure the Senate majority. Among outside groups and party committees, Republicans have the upper hand. Senate Republican infrastructure has raised far more than Democratic groups, with nearly five times more cash left to spend in the final weeks of the race. The Senate Leadership Fund and the National Republican Senatorial Committee raised more than their counterparts, the Senate Majority PAC and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, from mid-October to mid-November.
Read More ([link removed])
============================================================
Have a friend you think would like our money-in-politics newsletter?
** Click here to forward this email! ([link removed])
Senate restores FEC as agency
confronts massive backlog of cases
** ([link removed])
The U.S. Senate confirmed three new members to the Federal Election Commission Wednesday, finally giving the agency enough commissioners to enforce campaign finance laws after leaving it powerless throughout much of the 2020 election cycle.
The FEC has been without a quorum since July 4 due to retirements that left the commission with only three members out of the usual six. With three new commissioners confirmed, the FEC can again conduct meetings, change existing rules and pursue allegations of campaign finance violations.
The Senate confirmed Republican Sean Cooksey, general counsel to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Republican Allen Dickerson, legal director of the Institute for Free Speech, and Democrat Shana Broussard, counsel to FEC commissioner Steven Walther.
** Read More ([link removed])
OpenSecrets in the News
See our media citations from outlets around the nation this week:
* ** The one place in Washington, D.C., where bipartisanship is flourishing (Marketplace) ([link removed])
The biggest, and most lucrative, lobbying firms in Washington are bipartisan. They advertise themselves as one-stop shops, staffed up with dozens of Republican and Democratic influencers who can reach out to both sides of a divided government.
* ** Burgess Owens-Ben McAdams race one of the priciest in Utah history (The Salt Lake Tribune) ([link removed])
Utah’s 4th Congressional District race shaped up to be one of the most expensive in the state’s history, with new campaign finance disclosures showing the candidates combined had raised and then spent nearly $10 million.
* ** Wall Street Put Its Money on the 2020 Election’s Winners (Bloomberg) ([link removed])
Wall Street donors gave more money to President-elect Joe Biden than to President Donald Trump. They also gave more money to the winning candidate in 27 of the 33 Senate races, as well as to the winner in 389 of the 435 House races.
** The Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
** Fox News ([link removed])
** The Hill ([link removed])
** The Christian Science Monitor ([link removed])
** Politico ([link removed])
** MarketWatch ([link removed])
** The Montgomery Advertiser ([link removed])
** The Charlotte Observer ([link removed])
** The Duke Chronicle ([link removed])
** The Toledo Blade ([link removed])
** The Intercept ([link removed])
** Newsweek ([link removed])
** See more here ([link removed])
** tryu2.jpg ([link removed])
** count-cah-make-change.png ([link removed])
** Chair-nave.jpg ([link removed])
4 star rating for 8 consecutive years
Copyright © 2020 Center for Responsive Politics, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in at our website, OpenSecrets.org.
Our mailing address is:
Center for Responsive Politics
1300 L Street NW
Suite 200
Washington, District of Columbia xxxxxx
USA
** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
** update subscription preferences ([link removed])
