"Hidden Money Funding the Midterms"

This article goes along with what we have been discussing in class about campaign finance transparency. With Mountain Families PAC, Republicans spent $1.3 million on the West Virginia Senate seat against Don Blankenship (with no disclosure of the source of funds). Blankenship was recently imprisoned back in 2010, and the Republicans did not want him to win the primary. "The move worked like this: Start a new super PAC after a deadline for reporting donors and expenses, then raise and spend money before the next report is due. Timed right, a super PAC might get a month or more undercover before being required to reveal its donors. And if a super PAC launches right before the election, voters won’t know who’s funding it until after they go to the polls." Overall, spending without donor disclosure has reached over $21.6 million on 78 different congressional races in this election cycle.