Disclosure Eclipse
Nearly Half of Outside Groups Kept Donors Secret in 2010; Top 10 Groups Revealed Sources of Only One in Four Dollars Spent
November 18, 2010 - The amount of information available to voters about who was behind attack ads during the midterms was dramatically less than in previous years, a new Public Citizen study shows. Of the 10 top spending groups in the 2010 cycle, accounting for 52 percent of all spending in the elections, only three provided any information about their funders. These groups disclosed the sources of only one in four dollars they spent on the 2010 elections. Groups not disclosing any information about their funders collectively spent $135.6 million to influence this year's elections. That is almost exactly double the $68.9 million grand total spent by outside groups in 2006, the most recent midterm election cycle.