'Dark money' surpassed $1B in 2020, mostly boosting Democrats

For years, Democrats have railed against anonymous campaign contributions as a uniquely corrupting political force — even as they benefited from a record-shattering amount of "dark money" donations during the 2020 election.

A report published by the Center for Responsive Politics shows that "dark money" topped $1 billion during the recent election cycle. That includes about $660 million in contributions from anonymous donors to outside groups – with about $514 million going toward liberal groups, compared to the roughly $200 million that boosted Republicans. 

Critics of dark money, which obscures the source of the funds, argue that voters should know who's funding political advertisements and campaigns. The Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan group, has called it a "serious threat to our democracy," and Issue One, another nonpartisan group that aims to reduce the influence of money in politics, has called it "the most toxic force in politics."

Although Democrats have previously introduced legislation to crack down on dark money donations, it did not stop them from benefiting anonymous donations themselves as they fought to defeat Donald Trump and win back control of the Senate.

President Biden, for instance, benefited from about $174 million in anonymous donations to groups that supported him, far outstripping the $25.2 million spent on behalf of Trump, the report says.

Each of the top pro-Biden super PACs, including Future Forward USA and Priorities USA Action, received multimillion-dollar contributions from Sixteen Thirty Fund. 

Sixteen Thirty Fund, which operates as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit and bills itself as "dedicated to supporting an entrepreneurial, creative, and ambitious start-up culture in the nonprofit advocacy world," is a dark money group that directs funds from secret donors to projects it sponsors. This effectively allows it to operate anonymously. It acts as a fiscal sponsor for more than 50 groups that lack tax-exempt status or do not exist as separately incorporated entities.