But while the sums that flow to state and local elections may not be as vast, each dollar has much more influence. And thanks to lax or nonexistent regulation, a race can be dominated by a single spender, with his own policy agenda, essentially working in collaboration with a campaign. That is the conclusion of a report issued Monday by the Brennan Center for Justice: “Independent” spending on state and local elections has predictably skyrocketed since Citizens United, and coordination laws in many states are either too vague or weakly enforced.
The Supreme Court’s central rationale for allowing unlimited independent spending in support of a candidate is based on the unrealistic notion that the money and the candidate’s campaign are, in fact, separate. But, as the report illustrates, former campaign advisers slide easily into jobs at super PACs that support their old bosses, and candidates work closely with these groups, fund-raising for them and sharing everything from campaign videos to polling data. The theoretical difference between direct contributions and independent spending, the report says, has now been blurred “beyond recognition.”