OpenSecrets in the News

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

More Power Lines or Rooftop Solar Panels: The Fight Over Energy’s Future (The New York Times)
Then-candidate Joe Biden called for new power lines during his presidential campaign. That might have helped him win the support of electric utilities, which typically give bigger campaign contributions to Republicans. During the 2020 election, the industry’s political action committees and its executives gave him $1.4 million, compared with about $1 million to Donald J. Trump, according to the OpenSecrets. The president and energy companies want new transmission lines to carry electricity from solar and wind farms. But some environmentalists and homeowners are pushing for smaller, more local systems.


Activist Shareholders Score Wins on Election Spending After Riot (Bloomberg Law)
Shareholder pressure is mounting around dark money related to election spending, which few companies disclose. The 2020 election netted more than $1 billion in dark money that made its way toward campaign ads and other political purposes, according to OpenSecrets, which tracks the spending. The proposals approved this year seek information on the corporate policies and procedures behind political spending and a detailed accounting of donations that could be used for a broad range of political purposes.

Rupert Murdoch-funded Fox Corp PAC contributes to Democrat Joe Manchin’s campaign (CNBC)
The Fox Corp. PAC, which is funded in part by conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch, gave $1,500 to Manchin’s 2024 reelection campaign in June, according to a disclosure to the Federal Election Commission. The campaign raised just over $1.4 million in the second quarter. It would mark the first time Manchin has received a donation from the Fox Corp. PAC, according to a CNBC review of FEC records and data from OpenSecrets.