SOURCE: OpenSecrets.org, 2020-05-19
More than half of all TV ads in the presidential election and congressional races since the start of the 2020 election cycle were sponsored by "dark money" groups that keep their donors secret. That's according to a new analysis from the Wesleyan Media Project in partnership with OpenSecrets.org examining 2020 election cycle political ad spending through May 10 2020.
Liberal groups aired nearly three times as many of these dark money ads during the 2020 election cycle than their conservative counterparts. This comes after the first election cycle where Democratic dark money groups reported more spending to the Federal Election Commission than their counterparts on the right.
More than seven out of every 10 ads in House and Senate races were paid for by dark money groups that do not disclose donors, the analysis found.
Since many dark money group ads stop short of explicitly calling for the election or defeat of a specific candidate, the spending doesn't have to be disclosed to the FEC. Multiple top Senate ad sponsors since the start of the 2020 election cycle are dark money groups that have reported no spending to the FEC whatsoever, including powerhouses Majority Forward on the left, and One Nation on the right.
One Nation spent over $7.3 million on TV ads boosting Senate Republicans during the 2020 election cycle but disclosed no spending to the FEC during that time period. Linked to Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) Senate Leadership Fund, the group is focusing on backing incumbent senators facing strong Democratic challengers.
One Nation spent on ads in Arizona and Maine where Democratic challengers Mark Kelly and Sara Gideon have outraised incumbent Sen. Martha McSally and Sen. Susan Collins respectively. It is also backing the reelection bids of Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) -- candidates considered to be running a tight race.
Masterminded by Republican strategist Karl Rove, the group [One Nation] is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that does not disclose its donors' identities. One Nation spent more than $2.4 million on digital ads since Facebook and Google started making data available in 2018.
Going head to head against One Nation in two states is Democratic dark money group Majority Forward, linked to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's Senate Majority PAC. Also listed as a nonprofit organization, Majority Forward has spent over $2.9 million on TV ads in Arizona, Maine and Michigan in recent months.
In Maine, the Majority Forward released a 30-second ad titled "Scrounging" attacking Collins for not scoring enough protective gear for healthcare workers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Responding to the ad, One Nation released an ad titled "Fighting for Healthcare" featuring Collins' efforts to provide resources to frontline workers. The group also spent in Michigan where Republican challenger John James is trailing just behind incumbent Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) in campaign cash.
Majority Forward has spent more than $1 million on digital ads since Google and Facebook started tracking them in June 2018 plus even more on ads sponsored in collaboration with other Democratic groups such as Priorities USA.
In addition to ad spending by dark money groups that keep their donors secret, nearly half of all spending in Senate races sponsored by outside groups since the start of 2020 was paid for by "grey money" groups that only disclose some of their donors.Only one of the 10 top spenders in Senate races since January 2020 fully discloses its donors.
Democratic SuperPAC Senate Majority PAC tops political ad spending in Senate races followed by liberal group VoteVets. Both groups only partially disclose their donors.
Senate Majority PAC has spent more than $12.4 million in the 2020 election cycle with much of that attacking incumbent Republican senators in five states including Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Michigan and Montana. VoteVets spent more than $7.8 million on ads backing Senate bids of Democratic candidates in states such as North Carolina and Texas.
Democratic challengers have an advantage with an estimated 61 percent of TV ad spending used to support the Senate bids of Democratic candidates over their Republican opponents. Democrats received $34 million in air support compared to $20 million for Republican Senate candidates from Jan. 1 through May 10 2020.
Democratic SuperPAC Priorities USA Action outspent all other groups on ads in the past month and sponsored the second-most ads overall during the 2020 election cycle despite not kicking off its spending until February 2020.
Political ad spending in the 2020 election cycle is projected to top $6.7 billion overall and outside groups backing candidates from both sides of the aisle have already poured tens of millions into congressional races alone. These outside groups disclosed spending more than $76.8 million in 2020 Senate races and $45.1 million in House elections to the FEC, but have poured millions more into ads where the donors and even the spending have yet to be disclosed.
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