Outside spending overall in the 2020 cycle is over $2 billion, making it the most expensive election cycle since the disastrous 2010 Citizens United decision
Ten years after the disastrous 2010 Supreme Court decision of Citizens United, the 2020 election cycle is set to see more outside spending than any other election cycle. Senate races across the country in particular, including Iowa, are on track to be the most expensive in history.
From 2010 to 2018, outside groups poured $121 million in political ads and other spending into Iowa Senate and House races. In the 2020 election cycle alone, Iowa has been hit by over $184 million in outside spending, much of it on political ads. In total, since the disastrous 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision, Iowa has seen over $305 million in outside spending.
“In Congress, Senator Joni Ernst had the opportunity to require dark money groups to disclose their big donors, but she didn’t. Ernst had a chance to support a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, but she didn’t. She even could have supported the most comprehensive anti-corruption legislation since Watergate, but she didn’t,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “Joni Ernst has only helped create a corrupt system where corporations and mega-donors can spend unlimited and undisclosed money in elections. Theresa Greenfield is rejecting corporate PAC money and will fight to put an end to this Wild West era of campaign spending by wealthy political donors and corporations.”
While Senator Joni Ernst, who has taken $2.2 million from corporate PACs over the course of her career, has propped up the broken system created by Citizens United, Theresa Greenfield is fighting to unrig it to put power back into the hands of Iowans. Since the onset of the 2020 cycle, Greenfield has run a reform-focused campaign, choosing to reject corporate PAC money and put the needs of Iowans first. Her plan to end political corruption lays out specific steps to tackle the outsized influence of money in politics, stop illegal campaign coordination with outside groups, and prevent lawmakers from cashing in on their public service as lobbyists. Theresa Greenfield’s anti-corruption messaging is resonating with voters, making the Iowa Senate race one of the most competitive in the country.
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