MADISON, Wis. - This week, the Wisconsin State Assembly is likely to take up the controversial mining bill, SB 1, which passed in the state senate late last week on a 17-16 vote. Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said "lopsided" political donations are helping move the bill through the legislature.
"The interests that were lobbying for the mining bill gave the governor and state legislators almost $16 million," he said, "and the interests that were lobbying against the mining legislation gave a little bit over $25,000."
Supporters of the bill, which would allow a huge open-pit iron mine in northern Wisconsin, have said it is all about creating much-needed jobs. McCabe countered that the will of the people is essentially being ignored.
"We've seen polls - one from a conservative think tank, one that was commissioned by an environmental group - and both of them showed that most people don't support this legislation," he said. "They've got major concerns about relaxing environmental protections."
Environmentalists are concerned about the 29 million tons of waste the open-pit mine would generate every year, and what it might do to the pristine waters of northern Wisconsin.
During the heated debate in the state senate, Republican Assistant Leader Glenn Grothman urged his fellow senators to "ignore the goofy protester types" who brought up the amount of money donated to campaigns to move the bill forward. He also called the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign a "shady organization." McCabe disagreed.
"Following that money and making the public aware of the campaign contributions are coming from powerful interests and going to people who are supposed to be representing the people of Wisconsin, is not a 'shady operation' - in fact, it's quite the opposite," McCabe said.
If the legislature passes the mining bill, Gov. Walker - who received about $11 million from the mining interests - has said he will sign it.
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Undisclosed funding, or "dark money," is pumping into the 2024 election cycle.
Political spending by donors who stay hidden is reaching record highs, according to a report by OpenSecrets.
Author Anna Massoglia - the editorial and investigations manager at Open Secrets - said dark money might be coming from shadowy shell companies or non-profits, and often funds misleading attack ads against candidates from either party.
"When you have dark-money groups fueling this spending," said Massoglia, "the voter may not know what interest the secret donors behind that have in getting a specific candidate elected, a ballot measure passed or any other policy issue."
In 2022, OpenSecrets found that the Conservative Americans PAC spent more than $2.4 million in GOP primary races for U.S. House seats in Missouri, Tennessee and Arizona.
They discovered the super PAC was bankrolled by undisclosed American Economic Freedom Alliance and American Prosperity Alliance support prior to the votes.
Supporters of dark money donations argue they are a form of free speech, and in fact courts have often found that political donations are protected by the First Amendment.
Campaign watchdogs argue in return that even if donations are a form of protected speech, nothing stops the government from requiring full disclosure of who the donations are coming from - and without that, campaign advertising becomes inherently deceptive.
Massoglia says it really varies from one state to the next, in terms of which party and which side of the aisle is benefiting more. And, the patchwork of limits and disclosure rules vary greatly across the states.
"In some states, you can actually have 501(c)(4) dark-money groups or shell companies contribute directly to candidates' campaigns," said Massoglia, "which is something that's not allowed at the federal level. They're only allowed to spend in support of the candidate."
Massoglia emphasized that while dark money can come from various sources, it often comes from one type.
She said 501(c)(4) nonprofits are supposed to exist for social welfare purposes, but due to few restrictions on their spending they are able to spend practically unlimited sums on elections without ever disclosing their donors.
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Oregon lawmakers took a step toward limiting the impact of money on elections during the legislative session.
Lawmakers passed House Bill 2024, a campaign finance reform package that limits the amount single donors can contribute to campaigns. Limits haven't existed in the state since the 1970s.
Contributions will be capped at $3,300 - per candidate, per election.
House Speaker state Rep. Julie Fahey - D-Eugene - championed the bill.
In her first campaign for office, she faced candidates funded by large donations from wealthy donors - and said the experience inspired her to change the law.
"It really was that first challenging election cycle that cemented in my mind how important it was that we reform our campaign finance system," said Fahey, "in part because we need to make running for office more accessible to brand new candidates like I was."
Oregon voters have shown they're ready for limits on campaign contributions. They wrote them into the the state constitution in 2020.
This year, Honest Elections and the League of Women Voters had collected nearly enough signatures for a measure to put campaign finance reform on the November ballot.
Fahey noted that the bill doesn't just limit contributions.
"We also created new kinds of small donor pacs and membership organization pacs," said Fahey, "that will make sure that we can incentivize the kind of pro-democracy campaigning that we really want to see more of."
Common Cause Oregon Director Kate Titus said these changes have taken effort from a lot of people over a long period time.
"It's such a complex issue, campaign finance reform," said Titus, "and it's one of the toughest ones to fight because it gets at the heart of power in politics. Anyone who gains power through money has the power to resist."
The new campaign finance laws go into effect in 2027.
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Maine could become the first state in the nation to provide public funding to candidates seeking the office of district attorney.
Lawmakers are considering the first expansion of the state's Clean Election Act since 1996 to help ensure county-level races are not influenced by wealthy donors.
Anna Kellar, executive director of Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, said local and state law enforcement positions are increasingly gaining national attention and drawing large amounts of out-of-state spending.
"We see this really as a way of ensuring that this part of our justice system is fully accountable to the voters and able to be independent of their campaign donors," Kellar explained.
Kellar contended providing public funding for district attorney races will increase the pool of candidates with diverse career backgrounds, including public defenders. The legislation has passed a committee with bipartisan support.
Maine voters passed the Maine Clean Elections Act as a citizen initiative in 1996, creating a voluntary program of public financing of political campaigns for governor, state Senator and state Representative.
Candidates who participate can accept limited private contributions to start their campaigns but once they receive money from the state's Clean Elections Fund, they can no longer accept private donations.
Kellar argued the law ensures candidates have enough to run viable, fair campaigns.
"What we often see is if there are races where there are both clean elections candidates, they start out on that equal playing field and that also really helps reduce the need for that outside spending," Kellar observed.
Kellar emphasized the public should trust candidates for county-level law enforcement positions, including sheriff and district attorney, are impartial and will create agendas to benefit the public rather than donor's interests. She added Maine's "clean elections" have provided a great blueprint for other states, and wants the legislature to expand the law to ensure the example continues.
Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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