As dark money spending breaks all records this election season, corporate-backed groups are trying to strike down one of the strongest state-level dark money transparency laws in the country in a key swing state.
Last year, voters in Arizona overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure — Prop 211 — that requires dark money groups funding political advertising in the state to reveal the original source of their money. The unprecedented law is now one of the most far-reaching dark money transparency laws in the country.
It has also become a target for corporate interests trying to limit campaign finance laws. Last year, Americans for Prosperity, a nonprofit backed by billionaire Charles Koch and his shadowy dark money network, sued in federal court to overturn Prop 211. Now, the group has appealed the case to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a move likely designed to get the matter before the Supreme Court.
If successful, the big-money battle against Prop 211 could prevent other states from forcing the donors behind dark money spending into the light.
The unprecedented spending this election season has thrown the importance of laws like Prop 211 into sharp relief. The 2024 election is on track to break spending records. Super PACs and other unaccountable campaign spending groups have already spent over $1 billion this cycle. Both presidential candidates have taken tens of millions in untraceable donations.
Arizona’s law deals only with state campaign finance, not federal election spending. But its backers say the law is a model for other states — and potentially even federal legislation — to combat the dark money that has flooded elections since the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision, which allowed…
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Auteur: Katya Schwenk
