According to the nature of our economy, it’s typical that costs increase over time (hello, inflation). But what we’re seeing in elections cannot be considered normal.
The Pew Research Center recently asked Americans to list which issues are the biggest problems facing the economy right now.
Seventy-two percent said the role of money in politics is a “very big problem” — landing it the foremost spot above health care costs, inflation, the federal deficit, poverty and every other issue.
This is significant.
While candidates for Congress and the presidency quibble over who gets access to power, moneyed interests continue to creep into the system, making elections costlier than ever. Sometimes it starts to feel like a contest just for the contest’s sake.
Let’s take a look at the numbers.
Just three presidential cycles ago, in 2016, the total cost of all federal elections rang in at $6.5 billion, a (relatively) modest increase from 2012.
But four years later, the total cost more than doubled to $15.1 billion and, in 2024, nearly matched that total ($14.8 billion). The U.S. vastly outspends all other nations on elections.
The source of money has also changed. Twenty-five years ago, the vast majority of candidates who raised more than $200,000 for general election campaigns collected that money from within their districts from people they would ultimately represent if they won (79 percent of House candidates, 62 percent of Senate candidates). As my organization has reported, congressional elections truly have now become national campaigns, with just 17.6 percent local money in House races and only 27.5 percent in Senate races for 2024.
So, while more money is pouring into the U.S. election system than ever before, the traditional relationship between elected officials and those they represent has fallen apart.
Thanks to the research done by Unite America, we know that nearly all congressional elections are decided by less than 10 percent of voters.
Put those low voter participation rates together with low local fundraising rates, and you end up with elected officials who no longer represent the people.
And if our officials are not beholden to their constituents, but rather to partisan forces, we end up with a dysfunctional government.
We shouldn’t be surprised that the American people have had enough.
Amid a more politicized landscape in which partisans are moving increasingly toward the extremes, money in politics is one of the few issues that both sides of the aisle can agree on — with 66 percent of Republicans and 78 percent of Democrats citing it as a very big problem.
And yet, our leaders appear uninterested in changing a system that helps them stay in power. In every Congress, a handful of lawmakers have introduced legislation to reform the role of money in politics, but none of those bills have any chance at becoming law.
In fact, a meaningful campaign finance law has not been enacted since the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was signed in 2002 — nearly a quarter-century ago.
Since then, the courts have eaten away at the restrictions created by the law, clearing the way for super PACs and the untraceable “dark money” funds that support them.
And then there’s the Federal Election Commission, which is tasked with regulating campaign fundraising and expenditures in line with current law, enforcing the rules and punishing those who break the law.
But even in the best of times, the FEC rarely takes action. When fully staffed, it has three Republican and three Democratic commissioners, leading to partisan gridlock.
But deadlocked votes would be a welcome change from what we are facing now. In order to take action, the FEC requires a quorum of four commissioners. Right now it only has three, so it cannot complete most of its core functions.
That leaves the judiciary as the only branch of government considering changes to campaign finance laws. All eyes are on Maine, where voters overwhelmingly approved a 2024 ballot measure setting caps on contributions to super PACs.
Opponents have sued to overturn the measure, and the case has been teed up for a federal district court’s review. It is likely to end up before the Supreme Court in the next couple years, in what will likely be the most significant ruling on money in politics since Citizens United.
Before that case makes it to the high court, the justices may consider another campaign finance case. Current law limits how much money party committees can spend in coordination with candidates’ campaign committees. That law is being challenged and the case could be heard this fall.
While all this is happening (or, at the FEC, not happening), political operatives are already gearing up for the next elections and strategizing how to raise as much money as possible. If nothing changes, the dollars will only get bigger, and voters will be even more dissatisfied.
We deserve better.
Hilary Braseth is executive director of OpenSecrets.
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