Senate opponents of democracy reform were elected with millions in dark money
There’s a whole lot of dark money behind the opponents of democracy reform. The Koch network alone has spent tens of millions backing many of the senators who are opposing the For the People Act, which would overhaul campaign finance rules and enforcement and make it harder for dark money groups, like those in the Koch network, to secretly influence our elections.
Just take a look at these senators:
And that’s just scratching the surface — all told, groups associated with the Koch network have spent over $100 million boosting the campaigns of current Republican senators, none of whom are supportive of comprehensive campaign finance reform. That total doesn’t even include millions of dollars in additional dark money spending from these groups that was never reported to the Federal Election Commission.
These groups aren’t just settling for helping elect senators who are opposed to more transparency and stronger campaign finance laws — they’re also mobilizing to try to kill democracy reform. New Yorker reporter Jane Mayer obtained a recording of a strategy call that included a leader of a group in the Koch network as well as an advisor to Senator Mitch McConnell, in which they outlined what they saw as the need to defeat the For the People Act in Congress. The participants “expressed alarm at the broad popularity of the bill’s provision calling for more public disclosure about secret political donors.”
The Koch network and other dark money groups know exactly how popular this democracy reform is and how much it threatens the broken campaign finance system they depend on. That’s why they’re doing their best to defeat it quietly in Congress, aided by the senators whose campaigns they’ve boosted with millions of dollars of secret money. We can’t let them get away with it.
Email your senators now and ask them to stand up against dark money and stand with the American People. It’s time to pass the For the People Act!