This is the second in a four-part mini series focusing on different angles of federal campaign finance reform, an issue augmented by the rise of undisclosed spending for candidates.
With controversial dark money backing both parties in state and national elections, the heated U.S. Senate campaign in North Carolina blazes forward.
Dark money, which is used to support candidates without legally needing to disclose its sources, is a growing concern especially in North Carolina.
In the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court identified political spending as a type of expression protected by the First Amendment.
As a result, the government cannot prevent organizations from supporting or denouncing candidates as long as they do not directly contribute to campaigns.
The U.S. Senate race between incumbent U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and N.C. Speaker of the House Thom Tillis, R-N.C., has been the election cycle’s top target for outside spenders, according to analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, a research group that tracks U.S. campaign money.
Groups like super PACs that can contribute dark money indirectly to a campaign without limitation are considered outside groups.
The same analysis identified a crowded Republican primary and a vulnerable Democratic incumbent as factors contributing to the high profile nature of the race.
The nation’s three largest super PACs, by size of donations to candidates’ campaigns are the National Association of Realtors and two defense contractors: Northrup Grumman and Lockheed Martin — together, their donations total about $5.8 million.
But what is more startling is the amount of money outside groups can raise without donating to individual candidates.
The top super PAC based on the receipts of the money it collects is ActBlue, a super PAC that has collected receipts of more than $124 million that could be used for Democratic candidates as of July 21.
Of the total amount of money given by super PACs to candidates in national elections, 44 percent is given to Democrats, and 56 percent to Republicans.
In North Carolina, Tillis has raised about $3.3 million to Hagan’s estimated $13.3 million — but this is in funds reported to the Federal Elections Commission.
Money gathered by super PACs are often funneled directly into political ads. So long as the ad does not advocate specifically for or against a candidate, the ad doesn’t break federal regulations.
Almost all of the U.S. Senate political ads that ran on Charlotte TV station WBTV during a study by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit, were bought by outside groups rather than directly by campaigns.
The study found 4,086 political ads between the start of 2013 and June 17, totalling at $3.8 million — $3 million of which backed the a U.S. Senate candidate in the state, either Tillis or Hagan.
For Tillis especially, who has raised much less in FEC-reported funds than Hagan, outside spending is a powerful tool. Only 27 percent of Tillis-allied ads in the study were provided by named donors, according to the Sunlight Foundation.
In contrast, 69 percent of Hagan-allied ads in the study were provided by named donors.
Hagan and Tillis are currently neck and neck amongst voters with Hagan’s 39 percentage points to Tillis’ 34 percentage points, according to a June poll by Public Policy Polling with a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
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