The breakdown of fundraising and spending so far this year is revealing, and perhaps surprising. Among other things, it shows that traditional players are the biggest drivers of the money machine this year. These include committees affiliated with the Democratic and Republican parties — which have combined to raise more than $1 billion and have spent over $841 million in this election cycle alone — as well as "non connected PACs," so called because they aren't attached to any political party or campaign. These political action committees can be affiliated with corporations, unions or special interest groups, and have spent more than $1 billion trying to influence 2014 elections — more than twice as much money as the newer super PACs. But the big super PACs are big players indeed. Born of the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, they can raise and spend money in unlimited amounts to affect elections. One of our new overview pages takes a look at their role in greater detail, categorizing their spending by political preference. This is an editorial judgment that we make here at Sunlight based on committees' spending patterns.
Source: Outside spending nears $500 million in Election 2014; Sunlight's new overview pages break it down - Sunlight Foundation Blog
