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Dear friend of OpenSecrets,
As the third quarter was winding down last night and the money rolled in, 2020 Democratic presidential candidates stretched to meet or—for a lucky few—blast past DNC donation thresholds to qualify for the debates. And if spending so far is any indication, they need to replenish their coffers: they’ve already spent over $47 million on digital ads, shattering records for online spending in previous cycles.
But at least that money is disclosed. In the last presidential election, 1 out of every 5 dollars spent by outside groups came from organizations that do not fully disclose donors.
That's hundreds of millions spent on television and radio ads, campaign literature filling your mailbox, and the fastest growing area of attempts to influence—online digital advertising—that wallpapers your social media feeds all day every day.
CRP's reporting team has been shining a bright light on "dark money" since the 2010 Citizens United ruling—and on its offshoot, partially disclosing "gray" money. Just last month CRP reported on the special election for North Carolina's 9th Congressional District that set off an ad blitz funded by a new dark money group that came out of nowhere.
Nearly two-thirds of Americans—Republican, Democrat and Independent alike—want disclosure of political funding and spending, but little progress has been made. In a rare occurrence since the 2010 ruling, the FEC announced that Americans for Job Security will be required to disclose their donors and expenditures because more than half their spending is on politics. One of the top five dark money groups during the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, it took seven years to resolve this complaint. It’s a huge victory for transparency—but the work is far from over.
In the coming election, dark money groups will pour hundreds of millions into political ads, trying to influence your vote. As a friend of OpenSecrets you know that we are cataloging millions of records on political ad data from Federal Communications Commission filings to help you identify their source.
We are working hard to capture all of this data and make it easy for you to access—and we're partnering with others to do the same for digital ads, which major online platforms say they are making transparent, but with an inconsistent record so far, and without government oversight.
OpenSecrets is the most comprehensive resource on the money flowing through politics. We need your help to continue collecting the evidence and making sense of it. Please support OpenSecrets to make this invaluable ad data free to all.
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