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Encore: How Citizens United changed campaign finance and recent campaign spending trends

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

This episode originally aired on Sept. 9, 2024.

According to OpenSecrets.org the Kamala Harris campaign has raised about $906 million so far, and non-candidate-affiliated PACs or joint fundraising committees have raised about 586-million — that comes to about $1.5 billion.

The Donald Trump campaign has raised about $367 million of its own money, and outside groups have raised about $694 million for a total just over $1 billion.

This means about $2.5 billion have been raised by the two campaigns, so far, during this election cycle.

The “affiliated committees” refer to Super PACs and 501(c)(4)s, which are two fundraising channels that were not available prior to the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court Decision referred to as Citizens United.

That decision fundamentally changed U.S. campaign finance laws by saying that corporations, unions, and other organizations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns, as long as the spending is independent and not directly coordinated with candidates or political parties. It allowed for the creation of Super PACs and 501(c)(4)s which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose candidates.

Ian Vandewalker, Senior Counsel and Manager, Elections & Government, at the Brennan Center for Justice.
Ian Vandewalker, Senior Counsel and Manager, Elections & Government, at the Brennan Center for Justice.

We get an overview of the recent history of campaign finance rules and spending patterns, and learn what campaigns spend all of that money on.

Guest:
Ian Vandewalker, Senior Counsel and Manager for the Brennan Center for Justice’s Elections & Government Program.

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