Policy brief · Democracy
No. 03 · October 2026

Money in Politics

Give power back to voters: public financing, full disclosure and an end to corporate money.

For campaign staff, legislative offices and press · Figures sourced in the notes

The bottom line

The 2024 federal elections cost about $15.9 billion, the most ever.¹
Dark money, spending whose donors stay hidden, hit a record $1.9 billion in 2024 federal races.³
About half of one percent of Americans gave $200 or more to candidates, parties or PACs in 2016, and their gifts made up about two-thirds of the money.⁵
When the wealthy and the public disagree, the wealthy usually win: in a study of 1,779 policy questions, average citizens had little independent influence.⁶
Small-donor public financing works where it has been tried. Seattle's democracy vouchers produced about 350% more donors per race.⁹

$15.9BCost of the 2024 federal elections¹

$1.9BDark money in 2024 federal races³

0.52%Of Americans gave $200 or more in 2016⁵

72%Of adults want limits on campaign spending¹¹

01The problem

In Citizens United v. FEC (2010), the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions could spend unlimited sums on elections as long as they did not coordinate with candidates. Super PACs followed within months.¹³

An individual can give a candidate $3,500 per election.¹² A billionaire can give a super PAC any amount. Outside groups spent a record $4.5 billion in 2024, more than half of it from groups that do not fully disclose their donors.²

The money shapes the job. New House members in 2013 were handed a model day with four hours of call time, twice the time set aside for committee and floor work.⁷

Money in the 2024 federal elections

Total cost

$15.9B

Outside groups

$4.5B

Dark money

$1.9B

150 billionaire families

$1.9B

OpenSecrets, Brennan Center, Americans for Tax Fairness. The billionaire figure is an interim tally through late October 2024 and overlaps the other categories.^1,2,3,4

02The evidence

Donors are not voters. Political scientists Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page compared public preferences with federal policy on 1,779 questions and found that economic elites and business groups had substantial independent influence, while average citizens had little or none.⁶

Public financing changes who runs and who gives. New York City matches $8 in public funds for every $1 a resident gives, on the first $250 in citywide races.⁸ In Seattle, where every voter gets four $25 democracy vouchers, a peer-reviewed study found about 350% more donors per race, 86% more candidates and less success for incumbents.⁹

Refusing corporate money is spreading. 73 members of the 118th Congress refused corporate PAC money, up from 56 in the 116th.¹⁰

03The plan

No single bill in this Congress carries the whole agenda. Its core pieces have passed the House before: the For the People Act (H.R. 1) included small-donor matching and dark money disclosure and passed the House in March 2021.¹⁴ The Constituent agenda:

Reform	What it does
Overturn Citizens United	A constitutional amendment so Congress and the states can limit election spending again.
Small-donor public financing	Public funds multiply small gifts from voters, as New York City and Seattle already do.
End dark money	Every group that spends on elections discloses its real donors.
No corporate PAC or lobbyist money	Ban corporate PAC and lobbyist contributions to federal candidates.
Close the revolving door	Long lobbying bans for former members and senior staff.

04Who benefits and who pays

Who benefits

Voters, whose small gifts would count as much as large ones.
Candidates without wealthy networks, who could run on neighbors' support; Seattle saw 86% more candidates per race.⁹
Lawmakers, who could spend their days on constituents instead of call time.⁷

Who pays

The public, through matching funds or vouchers for participating candidates.
Big donors and dark-money groups, who lose their outsized share of influence. Just 150 billionaire families put about $1.9 billion into 2024 races.⁴
Lobbyists, whose clients spent a record $4.4 billion in 2024, lose access built on contributions.¹⁵

05What lawmakers can do

Refuse corporate PAC and lobbyist money, and say so on every page of your campaign.¹⁰
Back a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.
Pass small-donor matching for your own city or state's elections, on the New York City or Seattle model.^8,9
Require full disclosure of the donors behind any group that spends on your elections.
Use the toolkit for model language, a local resolution and answers to the objections.

Notes

The Constituent Institute · constituentinstitute.org/money-in-politics-brief Funded by people, not corporations. Free to copy and share.