Show us the money: how money dominates the 2024 US elections | US Election News 2024

The 2024 US presidential election is set to become the costliest election in modern history.

When Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race in June and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take on former President Donald Trump, it triggered a huge flow of money to Democrats. In the 24 hours after Harris announced her candidacy, $81 million flooded into her campaign fund.

Harris' campaign has been a major cash cow for the Democratic Party. She set a new record by raising $1 billion in three months. She began October with a huge financial advantage over Trump, having outraised the Republican Party nominee by nearly three to one in September, earning $378 million. Harris has also outpaced Trump in the battle to attract small donors.

Despite a reduced war chest, Trump still has deep pockets, raising $160 million in September. At an event in June, Trump walked away with $50 million after speaking to donors for about 45 minutes. And thanks to his loyal base, when he was convicted of falsifying business records in May, Trump used his conviction to raise $52.8 million in about 24 hours, according to his campaign. Trump also used an assassination attempt and his New York photo to extract millions from donors.

Former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump has not raised as much money as his presidential election opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. [File: Sam Wolfe/Reuters]
What are the financing rules?

In the United States, campaign financing is regulated by a series of laws aimed at preventing corruption while promoting transparency. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) enforces these rules.

Individuals, organizations, and businesses can contribute to political campaigns, but there are limits on the amount they can donate directly to candidates.

Individuals typically contribute the lion's share of a given candidate's campaign funds. Wealthier donors tend to give more. Legally, individuals can donate up to $3,300 per candidate per election during the 2024 cycle.

Both parties have committees at the federal and state levels that also raise funds. Candidates can also fund themselves, as Trump has done in part in the past.

Democrats have rallied behind Kamala Harris since she became the party's nominee for president, after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. [File: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]
What is a super PAC?

There are ways to get around the contribution limits of political action committees (PACs) and super PACs, which play a monumental role in American elections. PACs pool contributions from their members and donate them to campaigns, with a limit of $5,000 per candidate per year. PACs often represent industries like oil or aerospace, or focus on issues like climate change or gun rights.

Super PACs, created after a 2010 Supreme Court ruling, are funded by individuals, unions and corporations. Unlike PACs, they can donate unlimited amounts to independent organizations linked to a candidate, but cannot contribute to or coordinate directly with campaigns.

And this freedom allows the wealthy to invest as much money as they want to support their preferred candidate. So far, outside spending by these groups has totaled about $2.8 billion since 2010, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics. A large part of this money finances advertising, mailings, canvassing and online presence.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO and major monetary donor to Trump, Elon Musk, takes the stage to speak alongside Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, during a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show , Saturday October 5, 2024. [Alex Brandon/AP Photo]
What is the impact?

There are concerns about the influence of money in politics. Super PACs notably open the door to meaningful contributions, often raising questions about whether elections truly reflect the will of the people or that of elite donors.

Elon Musk, the controversial tech billionaire and world's richest person who supported Trump, announced in July that he planned to donate about $45 million a month to America PAC, a Trump-supporting super PAC that he created. His fundraising efforts, focused on voter registration and early voting in battleground states, have faced increased scrutiny. Meanwhile, Miriam Adelson, the conservative billionaire, donated $95 million to another super PAC supporting Trump, CNN reported.

The increase in dark money contributions, with no requirement to disclose donors, has also made transparency more difficult to achieve. OpenSecrets reported an unprecedented increase in dark money in the 2023 and 2024 cycles, which could exceed $660 million from unknown sources in 2020.

In some cases, PACs and Super PACs are even a way to influence a party other than the one supported by the donor. For example, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which specifically aims to fund candidates who support Israel and support opponents of those who do not, has proven to be the largest source of donor money aligned with the Republicans to the Democrats of the latter. primaries earlier this year, according to a Politico analysis.

That money helped defeat Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, two pro-Palestinian progressives in the House of Representatives, in their primaries this year.

Early voting began in the 2024 election, but millions continue to be injected to support candidates and reach people who have not yet voted. [Megan Varner/Getty Images/AFP]
What do we do?

Campaign finance reform could help balance the scales, but efforts toward stricter limits on donations, transparency and public financing have not found success at the federal level.

In 2022, President Biden called dark money a serious threat to democracy and urged Congress to pass a campaign finance bill requiring political groups to disclose their major donors. Senate Republicans blocked the bill. However, there are state initiatives that help to balance the scales. New York City has a public matching system, in which small donations are matched with public funds, thereby amplifying the voices of smaller contributors over larger donors.

Other efforts, like the Honest Ads Act, aimed to make political advertising more transparent, providing more information about the people who buy the ads. It was incorporated into the Freedom to Vote Act, but it did not pass the U.S. Senate.

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