Unknown sponsors behind one-third of U.S. Senate campaign ads
adrianaA study by the campaign finance watchdog Center for Responsive Politics and Wesleyan University’s Media Project finds that a type of political group that does not have to disclose its donors is responsible for $80 million in ads nationally—35.8 percent of all advertising in Senate races.
Without knowing who is paying for the ads, voters are robbed of “an important clue” that allows them “to take a claim made in an ad with a grain of salt,” said Travis Ridout, a Washington State University political science professor who works with the Wesleyan University project that analyzes campaign donations.