A Supreme Court order could upend the price of political ads on TV. Here’s how
From OpenSecrets: Ordinarily, Super PACs and other outside spending groups pay significantly higher rates than candidates for TV advertisements, as candidates are guaranteed the “lowest unit charge” in the weeks before an election. A new Supreme Court ruling, however, could allow outside money to access these steeply discounted rates. The Court has reinstated an FEC rule that allows joint fundraising committees (JFCs) to buy ads at the candidate rate, and a separate FEC ruling allows JFCs to include super PACs. The result is a loophole that could allow a Super PAC connected to a JFC to purchase ads at the candidate rate, multiplying the impact of the already unlimited amounts of money.
Elon Musk starts spending his midterm election millions, revealing his key Senate targets
From CNBC:Elon Musk’s Super PAC, America PAC, has begun spending in several battleground elections across the country. New disclosures with the FEC show that it has spent more than $800,000 across 7 Senate races and a few House races. The largest share of the spending, nearly $250,000, went to support Ken Paxton, the Republican candidate for Senate in Texas. The second-largest share, about $170,000, went to support Senator Susan Collins in Maine. The PAC focused most of its spending on Senate races, spending only about $90,000 across 8 House races. In 2024, Musk gave more than $239 million to America PAC, which was mostly spent to support President Trump.
Trump Plans Blitz of $138 Million and Counting to Save Midterm Republicans
From The New York Times:President Trump’s Super PAC, MAGA Inc., which has $400 million on hand, has announced a massive ad campaign to help support Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections. Two separate Super PACs funded by MAGA Inc. have booked $122 million in ad spending, while President Trump’s Super PAC has booked another $9 million in direct ad spending to support Ken Paxton in Texas. The three Super PACs are also spending over $6.5 million on direct mail and text-messaging campaigns, bringing the spending total to $138 million. Data from advertising intelligence firm AdImpact shows that the Trump-connected groups are on track to be the largest spenders in the midterms, not counting groups directly connected to Congressional leadership.
Criminal probe targets PAC funded by charter school management company
From AZ Mirror:A PAC funded by a charter school network in Arizona is under investigation by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for allegedly violating rules against corporate donations to candidates. A complaint by a Democrat-connected law firm claims that the Educational Freedom Fund PAC took money from Charter One LLC, a major charter school management company, and gave it directly to candidates for the Arizona State Legislature. Campaign finance reports show that the PAC received almost all of its funding, $200,000, from Charter One, and reported only $9,000 in individual contributions. The PAC also reported giving $83,200 in direct candidate contributions. The PACs lawyers argue that the contributions did not violate the rules against funneling corporate money to candidates because the money from Charter One should count as personal funds from its CEO.