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Conservative groups are spending big on school board races

Nov 7, 2022
Traditionally, school board candidates spend $1,000 or less. But one political action committee is spending about 20 times that per race.
Above, a volunteer of Moms for Liberty attends a school board campaign event in Florida. The conservative group spent $50,000 on races in the state, according to the group's co-founder.
Giorgio Viera/AFP via Getty Images

What the 2020 race (so far) has taught campaigns about how to spend money

Nov 13, 2020
Local organizing over national ads and more focus on mail-in voting are some of the takeaways from the recent election.
"We really need to get better at voting by mail and the early vote,” a Republican political consultant said of the election. Above, voters cast their ballots in Hillsboro, Virginia, on Nov. 3.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

Campaign spending could continue long after Election Day

Nov 4, 2020
Nearly $14 billion will be spent by the parties and campaigns this year, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That’s more than double what was spent in 2016.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images

Money is still flooding into the campaigns. But how to spend it?

Oct 22, 2020
In the final run-up to Election Day, campaigns, parties and outside groups are rushing to spend unprecedented cash on hand.
Television screens air the first presidential debate at a sports bar on Sept. 29, in Washington, D.C.
Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images

Is chasing swing voters a waste of campaign money?

Sep 28, 2020
Most voters have already decided whom they want for president, experts say. Will undecideds vote at all?
One swing voter researcher said "these voters may not be motivated to vote at all in the 2020 election."
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

How being a presidential "front-runner" helps with fundraising

Feb 25, 2020
The research shows what you might expect: donor want to back a winner
The Democratic presidential primary debate on Feb. 19, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mario Tama/Getty Images

How campaigns have changed in the decade since Citizens United

Jan 21, 2020
Outside campaign spending is at $4.5 billion since the Supreme Court case.
Demonstrators march in the snow in 2015 through Lafayette Park, outside the White House, to rally against the Supreme Court's decision in favor of Citizens United.
Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Sheila Krumholz reveals the secrets behind money in politics

Jan 16, 2020
A unprecedented amount of money is being spent to influence the 2020 election. And it keeps getting harder to figure out where it's all coming from.
Sheila Krumholz is the Executive Director of the Center for Responsive Politics.
Kimberly Adams/Marketplace

Georgia Democrats seek national campaign resources heading into 2020

Nov 20, 2019
They say their state is now a 2020 campaign battleground.
The debate stage is seen as it is prepared for the Washington Post and MSNBC fifth Democratic presidential primary debate at the from Tyler Perry Studios on November 19, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The business behind political donations made online

Sep 10, 2019
With more and more people donating to campaigns online, there’s more competition for who gets a slice of the fees attached to those donations.
Democratic presidential candidates on stage at the second round of primary debates in July in Detroit.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images