‘Dark money’ groups find new ways to hide donors in 2020 election

“Dark money” groups have poured more than $750 million into 2020 elections through ad spending and record-breaking contributions to political committees such as super PACs.

That’s according to OpenSecrets research in partnership with the Wesleyan Media Project. The top 20 dark money groups spending 2020 elections account for nearly half-a-billion of that sum. And in a continuation from the 2018 midterms, when liberal dark money groups reported more spending than their conservative counterparts for the first time in history, Democrats are receiving more help from dark money groups than Republicans. 

Out of all dark money spending in 2020, only $95.6 million was reported to the Federal Election Commission as direct outside spending, lower than any other election cycle since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. Groups that do not disclose their donors have instead funneled dark money to closely-tied super PACs and diverted more cash to “issue ads” that are not reported to the FEC.

Secret donor-funded “dark money” spending reported to the FEC has officially surpassed $1 billion in the decade since Citizens United. But in recent election cycles, record amounts of money are flooding U.S. elections through other channels. 

Super PACs and other political committees that are legally required to disclose their donors have taken a record-breaking amount of dark money contributions during the 2020 election.  Opaque sources such as shell companies and nonprofits that do not disclose their donors have given around $430 million to outside groups.

None of the top outside groups that have spent more than $100 million in the 2020 election fully disclose their donors. Only 30 percent of all outside spending comes from groups that disclose their donors completely, an all-time low. 

This kind of FEC-reported “grey” money spending by groups that only partially disclose their donors has surpassed $1.6 billion one week out from the 2020 election, more than any prior cycle in OpenSecrets data. The 2020 election cycle has already seen around eight times the amount of grey money spending compared with 2016. 

One of the biggest dark money players operating largely behind the scenes on the left is the Sixteen Thirty Fund. The 501(c)(4) nonprofit has contributed around $52 million from secret donors to federal political committees boosting Democrats during the 2020 election cycle. Sixteen Thirty Fund projects have also spent more than $2.6 million on Facebook ads during the 2020 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets’ online ad data. 

Liberal dark money outspending conservative counterparts 

Dark money has become an increasingly popular tool for political actors on the left. Liberal dark money groups outspent their conservative counterparts in 2018 for the first election cycle since Citizens United, a trend that continues in 2020. 

One week out from Election Day 2020, liberal dark money groups have reported spending more than four times the amount of their conservative counterparts with around $66.5 million disclosed to the FEC.  

Liberal political committees such as super PACs have taken nearly $260 million from dark money groups while conservative political committees have taken around $139 million during the 2020 election cycle. Liberal groups have spent more than $73 million on TV ads while their conservative counterparts have spent around $64 million. 

Anti-Trump 501(c)(4) nonprofit Defending Democracy Together has reported more spending to the FEC than another other dark money group with more than $15 million in spending opposing President Donald Trump or boosting Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

A lesser-known 501(c)(4) nonprofit called Future Majority is spending millions on digital ads and donated $5 million to Unite the Country, making it the pro-Biden super PAC’s largest donor to date. 

The dark money group labeled itself the strategy center for Democrats in 2020 and announced plans to spend up to $60 million to target voters in swing states in 2019 but kept a relatively low profile until August. Since then, the 501(c)(4) poured more than $1 million into digital ads on Facebook and Google.

Future Forward USA, a new hybrid PAC, poured around $100 million into ads backing Biden in the presidential race and took a whopping $29.8 million from its affiliated 501(c)(4) nonprofit in the final months of the election. In addition to dark money funding from its allied nonprofit, Future Forward USA Action, the super PAC received $3.9 million from the Sixteen Thirty Fund.

A recently created super PAC, NRA Victory Fund, has spent more than $16.6 million, most of that after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association in August. While the super PAC is legally required to disclose its donors, it has been heavily funded by the NRA’s 501(c)(4) nonprofit arm with millions of dollars in contributions from secret sources, adding an extra layer of insulation to keep the identity of donors hidden.

Party-aligned groups dominate dark donations 

Party-aligned groups are spending more than ever and increasingly turning to secret donors during the 2020 election cycle to fuel political advertising while disclosing only a small fraction of that spending to the FEC. 

More than $215 million has flowed into 2020 elections through dark money groups aligned with Democratic or Republican party leadership through this political ad spending and political contributions to allied super PACs.

Senate Democrats’ Majority Forward has poured more than $38 million into 2020 elections with tens of millions of dollars on undisclosed TV ads before beginning to disclose its spending when the FEC’s disclosure window went into effect, according to research in partnership with the Wesleyan Media Project. Since then, Senate Democrats’ main dark money group has reported more than $3 million in spending to the FEC.

Majority Forward gave more than $14 million to political groups included Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC that shares the dark money group’s staff and resources, and pop-up super PAC Let’s Turn Colorado Blue during the 2020 election cycle.

An even newer super PAC called North Star created Oct. 5 to oppose Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) got $3.4 million from Majority Forward, with money starting to pour in the day after it formed. 

Nearly $20 million has come from Senate Democrats’ other dark money affiliate, Duty and Honor, and $15.5 million in 2020 spending can be traced to congressional Democrats’ House Majority Forward.

Senate Republican leadership-aligned 501(c)(4) nonprofit One Nation has funneled more money into U.S. federal elections than any other dark money group in the 2020 election cycle with around $102 million going to political contributions and ads.

Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) that shares staff and resources with One Nation, received around $62.6 million from the dark money group. While the super PAC is legally required to disclose its contributors to the FEC, reporting contributions from the dark money group hides the ultimate source of those funds and One Nation has not reported any 2020 spending to the FEC whatsoever. 

American Action Network, Republican House leadership’s 501(c)(4) nonprofit that has disclosed none of its donors or spending to the FEC, has poured over $9 million into political advertising boosting GOP congressional candidates and more than $26 million into political contributions to the Congressional Leadership Fund, House Republicans’ super PAC that shared staff and resources with American Action Network.

But American Action Network isn’t the Congressional Leadership Fund’s only dark money donor. Last week, the Campaign Legal Center filed an FEC complaint alleging that “Montcalm LLC,” which gave $150,000 to the super PAC Congressional Leadership Fund less than two weeks after incorporating, violated the ban on making political contributions in the name of another.

This cycle’s historically expensive races have been some of the biggest magnets for dark money.

Georgia’s Senate race has seen more than $3.1 million in direct dark money spending reported to the FEC, more than any other congressional election. Other states with Senate races attacking millions of dark money dollars include Arizona, Montana and North Carolina, which is poised to have the most expensive Senate election in American history.

Researcher Andrew Mayersohn contributed to this report.