In politics, particularly the politics of the United States, dark money refers to spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public.
In the United States, some types of nonprofit organizations may spend money on campaigns without disclosing who their donors are. The most common type of dark money group is the 501(c)(4) (often called social welfare organizations).Robert Maguire, How 2014 Is Shaping Up to be the Darkest Money Election to Date, OpenSecrets (April 30, 2014). Such organizations can receive unlimited donations from corporations, individuals and unions. Proponents of dark money maintain it is protected under the First Amendment, while critics complain recipients of dark money (as with any contribution) are beholden to their funders, while voters are kept in the dark about connections between donor and politician when favors are paid back.
Dark money entered the politics of the United States with Buckley v. Valeo (1976), when the United States Supreme Court laid out "Eight Magic Words" that define the difference between electioneering and issue advocacy – exempting the latter from election finance laws. Dark campaign spending increased from less than $5.2 million in 2006 to well over $300 million in the 2012 presidential cycle, more than $174 million in the 2014 midterms, $216 million in the 2014 midterm elections,Editorial, Dark Money Helped Win the Senate, The New York Times (November 8, 2014). and more than $1 billion in all 2020 federal elections.Article, , OpenSecrets.org (March 17, 2021). The 2010 landmark case, Citizens United v. FEC, marked the turning point when dark money contributions surged, and some political groups began contending that they were not required to register with the FEC as any sort of PAC because their primary purpose was something other than electoral politics. As of 2022, the non-profit OpenSecrets states that Dark money is "pouring" into U.S. elections, but not only are its donors not being disclosed, the total quantity of the dark money isn't either. "The vast majority" of what is spent "is not being disclosed to the Federal Election Commission".
In the 2020 election cycle, there were more than $1 billion in undisclosed spending; of that money, $514 million was spent to help Democrats and $200 million was spent to help Republicans. A New York Times analysis found that after a decade spent attacking undisclosed political spending on the right, the Democratic Party "embraced dark money with fresh zeal," spending over $1.5 billion in undisclosed cash in the 2020 election cycle and outspending the Republican Party.
Etymology The term was first used by the Sunlight Foundation to describe undisclosed funds that were used during the United States 2010 mid-term election. An example of the usage of the term "dark money" can be seen in a letter of resignation to President Donald Trump by former Federal Election Commissioner (FEC), Ann Ravel: "Since 2010, well over $800 million in dark money has been spent in competitive races. At the same time, elections have become more and more expensive. Most of the funding comes from a tiny, highly unrepresentative part of the population."
Activities and influence The rise of dark money groups was aided by the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2008) and Citizens United v. FEC (2010). In Citizens United, the Court ruled (by a 5–4 vote) that corporations and unions could spend unlimited amounts of money to advocate for or against political candidates.Michael Beckel & Jared Bennett, 12 ways 'Citizens United' has changed politics: Center for Public Integrity investigations illuminate political 'dark money' (January 21, 2015).
In some elections, dark money groups have surpassed traditional political action committees (PAC) and "super PACs" (independent-expenditure-only committees) in the volume of spending. In 2012, Freedom Partners had the ninth-highest revenues among all U.S. trade associations that filed tax returns that year, more than "established heavyweights" such as the American Petroleum Institute, PhRMA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Freedom Partners largely acted as a conduit for campaign spending; of the $238 million it spent in 2012, 99 percent went to other groups, and Freedom Partners itself did not have any employees. This was a major distinction between other high-revenue trade associations, which typically have many employees and devote only about 6 percent of spending to grants to outside groups. In 2014, Freedom Partners was identified as the "poster child" for the rise of dark money. The largest and most complex network of dark money groups are funded by billionaire business magnates Charles and David Koch; the Koch brothers' network accounted for about a quarter of dark money spending in 2012.
Approaching the 2018 midterm elections, in mid-September, just 15 groups accounted for three-quarters of the anonymous cash.
2010 election cycle According to OpenSecrets, dark money (which it defined as funds from outside groups that did not publicly disclose donors or those they substantially funded) accounted for nearly 44% of outside spending in the 2010 election cycle.Outside Spending by Disclosure, Excluding Party Committees , OpenSecrets. It was estimated that dark money accounted for around $127 million for this cycle.
2012 election cycle
In the 2012 election cycle, more than $308 million in dark money was spent, according to OpenSecrets.Tom Kertscher, Ten times more 'dark money' has been spent for 2016 elections, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin says, PolitiFact (November 5, 2015). An estimated 86 percent was spent by conservative groups, 11 percent by liberal groups and 3 percent by other groups.
The three dark money groups which spent the largest sums were Karl Rove's American Crossroads/Crossroads GPS ($71 million), the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity ($36 million) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ($35 million), all conservative groups.Leah McGrath Goodman, As Dark Money Floods U.S. Elections, Regulators Turn a Blind Eye, Newsweek (September 30, 2014). The three liberal groups with the largest dark-money expenditures were the League of Conservation Voters ($11 million), Patriot Majority USA, a group focusing on public schools and infrastructure ($7 million), and Planned Parenthood (almost $7 million).
2014 election cycle The 2014 election cycle saw the largest amount of dark money ever spent in a congressional election; The New York Times editorial board described 2014 "the greatest wave of secret, special-interest money ever." On the eve of the election, Republican-leaning dark money groups dominated, with $94.6 million in expenditures, exceeding dark money expenditures by Democratic-leaning dark money groups ($28.4 million), and by expenditures that could not be classified ($1.9 million).Peter Olsen-Phillips, Dark money still a Republican game, Sunlight Foundation (October 28, 2014). Karl Rove's dark money group Crossroads GPS alone spent over $47 million in the 2014 election cycle.Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Courts Shine Light on Dark Money, Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law (May 26, 2015).
In the Senate elections, dark money spending was highly concentrated in a handful of targeted competitive states, and especially in Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Kentucky, and North Carolina.Paul Blumenthal, Dark Money Concentrates In Small Number of Pivotal 2014 Races, Huffington Post (October 15, 2014). In the eleven most competitive Senate races, $342 million was spent by non-party outside groups, significantly more than the $89 million spent by the political parties.
In the 2014 Kentucky election, a key player was the "Kentucky Opportunity Coalition", a group supporting Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky,Robert Maguire, Pro-Tillis dark money group funded entirely by Crossroads GPS, OpenSecrets (November 17, 2015). whom The New York Times editorial board has described as "the most prominent advocate for unlimited secret campaign spending in Washington." The Kentucky Opportunity Coalition, a 501(c)(4) "social welfare" group,Michael Beckel, Mysterious pro-Mitch McConnell group bankrolled by megadonors: Kentucky Opportunity Coalition raised more than Kentucky Republican's challenger, Center for Public Integrity (November 20, 2015). raised more than $21 million, while McConnell raised about $32 million and McConnell's opponent, Democratic candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes, raised about $19 million. According to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of data provided by advertising tracking firm Kantar Media/CMAG, the group ran more than 12,400 television advertisements. Every Kentucky Opportunity Coalition's television advertisements mentioned either McConnell or Grimes; overall, about 53 percent of the group's ads praised McConnell while the rest were attack ads against Grimes.Michael Beckel, Flush with mystery money, Kentucky nonprofit haunts Grimes' Senate bid: Pro-McConnell group responsible for one of every seven ads in race, Center for Public Integrity (October 29, 2014, updated May 21, 2015). The Kentucky Opportunity Coalition relied heavily on political consultants in Washington, D.C., and Virginia linked to Karl Rove's Crossroads groups,Paul Blumenthal, Karl Rove's Network Lurks Behind Local Kentucky Groups Backing Mitch McConnell, Huffington Post (March 1, 2014). and received $390,000 in a grant from Crossroads GPS. Described as "mysterious", the group was listed by a Post Office box, and the only name formally associated with the group was political operative J. Scott Jennings, a deputy political director in the George W. Bush administration, a worker for McConnell's previous campaigns. Melanie Sloan of the watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said that the Kentucky Opportunity Coalition was "nothing more than a sham".
Dark money also played a role in other competitive Senate seats in 2014. In ten competitive Senate seats, the winners had the following in dark-money support, according to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law:Ian Vandewalker, Outside Spending and Dark Money in Toss-Up Senate Races: Post-Election Update, Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law (November 10, 2014).
Winning candidate Dark Moneyin Support Dark Money as %of NonpartyOutside Spendingin SupportThom Tillis (R-NC) $22,888,975 81%Cory Gardner (R-CO) $22,529,291 89%Joni Ernst (R-IA) $17,552,085 74%Mitch McConnell (R-KY) $13,920,163 63%Tom Cotton (R-AR) $12,502,284 65%David Perdue (R-GA) $11,098,585 86%Dan Sullivan (R-AK) $10,823,196 85%Pat Roberts (R-KS) $8,454,938 78%Gary Peters (D-MI) $4,226,674 28%Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) $3,478,039 35% Total $127,475,231 71%
In North Carolina, the pro-Tillis group "Carolina Rising" received nearly all (98.7%) of its funds from Crossroads GPS; OpenSecrets highlighted this as an example of how Crossroads GPS, a 501(c)(4) group, "evades limits on political activity through grants" to other 501(c)(4) groups.Carrie Levine, New tax documents show Crossroads GPS poured millions into 2014 Senate race: Group supplied nearly all funds to North Carolina 'dark money' group, OpenSecrets (November 17, 2015). In the 2014 cycle, Crossroads GPS also gave $5.25 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, $2 million to the American Future Fund, and $390,000 to the Kentucky Opportunity Coalition. In total, Crossroads GPS spent more than $13.6 million on grants to other groups, which it described as being for the purposes of "social welfare".