January 29, 2026 – A new Ipsos survey conducted for American Promise shows Americans overwhelmingly reject the idea that unlimited political spending should be treated as free speech protected by the First Amendment, with just 15% in agreement. By roughly 3-to-1, Americans also say voters and their elected representatives — not the Supreme Court — should decide campaign finance laws.
American Promise, a cross-partisan organization working to restore the constitutional authority of Congress and state legislatures to set reasonable limits on campaign spending, released the findings ahead of the 50th anniversary (on January 30) of the Supreme Court’s in Buckley v. Valeo, which first established the legal theory that spending money on elections is a form of free speech.
Other findings in the poll include:
- Concern about money in politics is overwhelming and across party lines. 81% of Americans are concerned about the influence of money in politics, including 78% of Republicans, 90% of Democrats, and 82% of Independents. 77% say it poses a threat to elections.
- Americans support restoring the ability of Congress and states to set reasonable limits. 72% agree Congress and the states should be able to reasonably regulate and limit money in campaigns and elections, including super-majorities of Republicans (69%), Democrats (83%), and Independents (78%).
- There is bipartisan agreement that wealthy donors’ influence is growing and that and that large donors make it harder for ordinary Americans to be heard. 68% say wealthy donors have more influence than a decade ago, and 76% agree large donors make it harder for ordinary Americans to have their voices heard—including super-majorities of Republicans (76%), Democrats (86%), and Independents (81%).
For the first two centuries of American constitutional law, no court had ever held that the First Amendment restricted anti-corruption laws or limits on election spending. Buckley v. Valeo, which was decided by the Supreme Court on January 30, 1976, first established the legal theory that spending money on political campaigns was a form of free speech. Since then, the courts have struck down dozens of campaign finance laws on the federal, state, and local level — mostly notably in Citizens United — that were designed to limit the influence of money in our political system.
“As the 2026 midterm campaigns heat up, Americans can see what’s coming: more outside spending, more secret money, and more ads funded by interests with no accountability,” said Jeff Clements, co-founder and CEO of American Promise. “Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike are fed up — and we want change. Most Americans do not believe unlimited spending should be treated as protected speech. And here’s the thing – we never chose this corrupt system. It was created by bad Supreme Court decisions over the last 50 years. This is a constitutional problem that needs a constitutional solution.”
American Promise is leading the national movement for the For Our Freedom Amendment, which would restore the ability of Congress and the states to decide whether and how to address political spending. To date, 23 states, as varied as Massachusetts and Utah, Alaska and Nevada, West Virginia and California, have passed resolutions in favor of such an amendment.
American Promise partnered with Ipsos, a non-partisan market research and polling company, to conduct the nationally representative survey of 1,036 U.S. residents ages 18+ between January 9-11, 2026, using the probability-based KnowledgePanel. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points. Results are weighted on gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region, metropolitan status, household income, and party ID.
More about the poll and methodology here. American Promise polling page here.
About American Promise
After a series of Supreme Court decisions including Citizens United, which opened the floodgates to unlimited political spending, Americans have watched money speak louder than their votes. American Promise is a cross-partisan organization working to pass the For Our Freedom Amendment, to restore the power of Congress and the states to set reasonable limits on campaign spending. With 23 states already signaling support, American Promise is building a national movement to put voters back at the center of our elections.
