One legacy of the 2012 presidential race: the super-political action committees it spawned. Weeks after the Nov. 6 election, those groups still had more than $5.4 million left to spend, Federal Election Commission reports due yesterday show. Each candidate —...
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Photograph by Win McNamee/Getty Images
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain holds up a cupcake decorated with his 9-9-9 economic plan before a speech at the National Press Club in this file photo.
Super-PACs Still Super With $5.4 Mln — Though `9-9-9′ Down to Last $100
Photograph by Peter Foley/Bloomberg
Images of President Barack Obama, left, and Republican Mitt Romney are seen on a monitor while a trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Nov. 7, 2012.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: $7 Billion
That’s about how much was spent on the 2012 election, according to an estimate from the Federal Election Commission. Candidates spent about $3.2 billion, compared with $2 billion spent by the political parties and $2.1 billion by outside political committees,...
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Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Representative Michele Bachmann, a Republican from Minnesota and former GOP presidential candidate, left, is prepped for an interview in Washington.
Democratic Super-PAC Targets 10 House Republicans
A leading Democratic super-political action committee is identifying 10 House Republicans whom it will target for defeat in the 2014 midterm elections. House Majority PAC said in a statement today that it would seek to unseat Michele Bachmann and John...
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Photograph by Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images
Maryland politicians and community leaders held a rally in front of the Maryland State House to "fight secret spending in our democracy" by supporting the "DISCLOSE Act." The act would increase disclosure and transparency of campaign donations.
Inflation Plays in the Price of Politics
Coming out of the most expensive campaign in history, more boom-town news: Donors can now give more money to federal candidates and committees active in the 2014 elections. Individuals may give $2,600 to a federal candidate for a primary election...
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Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
A supporter waiting to enter a campaign event for Senator Hillary Clinton at Baruch College in New York in this file photo.
Hillary Supporters Waste No Time Gearing Up for 2016
Departing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has yet to announce her future political plans — if any — but already two super-political action committees have formed to promote her as the Democratic Party’s logical choice for president in 2016. Both the...
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Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Rick Santorum at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Tampa, Florida, on Aug. 28, 2012.
Friess Checkbook Ready for Santorum
Investor Foster Friess’s $2 million in contributions to the super-political committee backing Rick Santorum was crucial to allowing the former Pennsylvania senator to continue his candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. If Santorum runs in 2016, Friess says, he’ll...
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Photograph by Tim Pugmire/Minnesota Public Radio/AP Photo
A billboard on Interstate 94 east of downtown St. Paul, Minn. makes an appeal to soldiers and military veterans to support a proposed voter ID amendment on the ballot in Minnesota.
Citizens United Foes, Civil Rights Pros: Common Ground on Voter ID
Advocates trying to overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision or otherwise enact new limits on campaign spending are finding a common cause with civil rights groups fighting Republican efforts to enact voter-identification laws. They say the issues are related....
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Photograph by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
People watch election results as TV networks begin to call the 2012 presidential election in Columbus, Ohio.
Romney Supporters Paid More Than Obama’s for Same TV Air Time
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, his allied super-political action committees and the Republican National Committee matched the $1 billion-plus raised by President Barack Obama, the Democratic National Committee and allied super-PACs for the 2012 campaign. Even so, their ad spending...
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Photograph by Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., speaks at a rally for Elizabeth Warren (D), in Worcester, Mass. on Oct. 19, 2012.
Franken, Party Friends to Gain from Minnesota Democratic Super-PAC
A Democratic-aligned advocacy group in Minnesota is adding a super-political action committee to prepare for 2014 federal elections in the state. WIN Minnesota, a 501c4 nonprofit, is adding the super-PAC “to explore the option of doing work in federal races,”...
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Photograph by Jason Rearick/The News-Times via AP Photo
Former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, center, holds hands with her husband, Mark Kelly, while exiting Town Hall at Fairfield Hills Campus in Newtown, Conn. after meeting with Newtown officials on Jan. 4, 2013. Giffords also met with families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre.
Giffords Gun-Control Packs Texan Cash: Trial Lawyers in for $1 Million
Steve and Amber Mostyn, wealthy Texas trial attorneys, said today that they are giving $1 million to help start the gun-control advocacy group formed by former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly. Steve Mostyn, one of...
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Contributors
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Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
