A recent review of financial records shows Democrats are committing more money than ever to political campaigns in 2024, especially in a close race.
Since 2018, this amount has steadily increased compared to Republican spending. By 2020, parts of the country that supported Joe Biden in the presidential election will account for 71% of the country’s GDP.
Much of “dark money” – including illicit foreign contributions – cannot be identified because it is often channeled through corporations or 501(c)4 nonprofits that are not required to identify their donors.
Though 28 states have passed laws by banning so-called “Zuckerbucks” – massive donations from outside donors like Meta/Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan to mostly Democratic election officials – the tech mogul is expected to find a way to circumvent these rules by contributing instead agents to achieve similar actions.
In 2020, the Zuckerbergs donated $419 million to election officials, with counties receiving the money going to Democratic officials and Republicans an almost perfect ratio of 23 out of 25.
While it is illegal for foreigners to vote in U.S. elections, it is no secret that it happens. Jim Dornan, the former’s cousin US Representative Bob Dornan of California, who works as a Republican political consultant in Washington, he said The Arizona Sun Times. that Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Iran are funneling money into US elections. They create “front” American companies and launder money through them. Although it is illegal, the money cannot be traced. Dornan said the only way to discover some of them is through legal proceedings.
He said Democrats are also focusing this year on interfering in the Republican primary by supporting MAGA candidates who they believe will be weaker to the Democratic candidate in the general election. He quoted U.S. Senate race in Montanawhere Democrats press the businessman Tim Sheehypreferring to face him rather than face him Matt Rosendale, who currently serves in the US House of Representatives. Rep. Rosendale (R-MT-02) recently dropped out of the race.
Brian Boyle, a member of the Federalist Society and general counsel of American Promise (AP), an organization pushing for a constitutional amendment to give states the power to regulate untraceable money that progressives call “dark money,” said Times of the Sun after the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in the 2010 case Citizens United v. FEC by allowing corporations to donate money to political campaigns, Republicans initially benefited more than Democrats.
However, he said there has been a striking change since 2018. In 2018, $83 million went to Democrats and $74 million to Republicans. In 2020, $445 million in murky money went to Democrats and $185 million to Republicans. In 2022, $316 million in murky money went to Democrats and $263 million to Republicans.
Boyle believes the problem can be solved through federalism, which would mean leaving murky money regulation to states rather than judges. “The justice system should not be involved in micromanaging difficult political decisions,” he said.
Boyle pointed to the swing state of Wisconsin, where Democrats get most of their funding from out-of-state money. Washington Examiner reported on Monday “Nearly 40% of Wisconsin Democrats’ 2024 Funding Comes from One Man: Reid Hoffman, founder of the social networking site LinkedIn.” Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Executive Director Matt Rothschild said Wisconsin Public Radio“Every time there’s a race in Wisconsin, it seems like a new outside spending record is broken, and it’s just endless.” Only three percent of Wisconsin Democrats’ funding comes from the state.
The AP started as a progressive group in 2012, but alarm that Democrats were benefiting more from murky money than Republicans led the GOP to join the organization, which is now bipartisan and has many conservatives on its board and staff. The AP said it believed it Citizens United violated the 10th Amendment and instead left it up to the states to regulate undisclosed money.
said former New Hampshire state senator Jim Rubens, who serves on the AP’s board of directors Times of the Sun that the organization conducted polls in seven states, including Republican-majority states such as Wyoming, and found that more than two-thirds of Republicans support the amendment.
Rubens was interview by Real America’s Voice in February. He emphasized that although Democrats claim to be against murky money, they are the ones who are best at profiting from it. Rubens said there is currently a “structural bias in favor of Democrats.” Host Steve Gruber praised AP’s proposed constitutional amendment and said it seemed “reverse” for blue states to support it instead of red states.
Rubens said Times of the Sun that one person like Zuckerberg should not be able to enter a country and completely dictate the course of elections because he can make a greater contribution than the intra-state opposition. The amendment would allow states to prohibit out-of-state contributions.
Another questionable area Rubens pointed to was the thousands of contributions sent through ActBlue from people who either had no employer on the list or were retired. While nearly 50 percent of ActBlue’s contributions came from these types of individuals, the equivalent organization on the right, WinRed, contributed only 2.6 percent of these types of contributions, he said. Times of the Sun reported regarding these types of donations, called “smurfing”, which is the illegal practice of creating bogus accounts to achieve a purpose.
Capital Research Center (CRC), which investigates electoral corruption, examined leftist billionaire George Soros’s contributions to law enforcement races across the country. The CRC said Soros began funding left-wing district attorneys in 2016 and “generously supported more than 20 individual candidates, many of whom went on to win elections and remain in office today.”
The CRC awarded Soros $1.1 million as the reason Alvin Bragg was elected Manhattan District Attorney in 2022. Bragg is currently prosecuting former President Donald Trump. “After Bragg published a note stating that his office will not seek prison sentences for crimes such as armed robbery, drug trafficking and burglary, more than nine Manhattan prosecutors have resigned”- noted the article.
Soros also attacks moderate Democratic district attorneys. In 2022 he will contributed $300,000 to support left-wing candidate Jacqueline Sartoris defeat incumbent Jonathan Sahrbeck in the Democratic primary for district attorney of Cumberland County, Maine.
Soros doughy $2.3 million for the 2016 Maricopa County sheriff’s race, which is widely considered to be the reason little-known Democrat Paul Penzone defeated longtime popular Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Soros has been in Texas for the last year contributed at least $3 million to five left-wing groups. He was the sole donor to Texas Majority PAC, giving $2.5 million.
In Maine, a voting agent banning foreign contributions to state elections that were held last fall with 86% support. This was intended to stop Canadian energy companies from interfering in state elections. However, it has been put on hold until a judge considers whether it is in breach Citizens United.
Axles reports that Democrats are outperforming Republicans this cycle in congressional races, especially in highly competitive House races. Democratic incumbents, candidates and leaders in these races raised an average of $890,000 in the first three months of this year compared with Republican incumbents and candidates during that period, who raised an average of just over $550,000. The Trump campaign is handicapped due to the massive amounts of money needed to legally defend Trump and fend off his primary opponents.
Rubens said Times of the Sun that the Founding Fathers “were most afraid of concentrated power; “they didn’t anticipate a situation where a few people control the flow of money” and may target “swing races.” He said: “First comes corruption, then tyranny.”
Rubens said American voters are so frustrated with Congress that they are increasingly supporting constitutional amendments. He said an overwhelming majority of voters – including two-thirds of Democrats – currently support numerous constitutional amendments on campaign money, debt limits and term limits. “Society is ready for the restoration of federalism,” he said. “It just gives states the power to regulate.”
He said: “The right wing cannot see [Citizens United] will no longer be an advantage.”
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Sunshine times in Arizona AND Star News Network. Keep following Rachel Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
“Voting sign” photo by Lorie Shaull. CC BY-SA 2.0.
