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The Fix

How Citizens United changed politics, in 7 charts

By Chris Cillizza
January 22, 2014

Four years ago today, the Supreme Court issued the Citizens United ruling, a case that
has drastically re-shaped the political landscape in its relatively short life span.
President Obama condemned it in his 2010 state of the union address, Democrats
tried, unsuccessfully, to make the 2010 midterms about it, and it played no small part
in making the 2012 presidential election by far the most expensive in American
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So, what hath Citizens United -- which, in short, allowed corporations and labor
unions to spend unlimited funds on direct advocacy for or against candidates - actually 2 James Beard Awards will
now require chefs to
wrought? Here are six charts -- many thanks to WaPo's Matea Gold for her help -- show a social justice…

that tell the story. Got a favorite chart that details the impact of Citizens United? Send
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it my way at chris.cillizza@washpost.com and I will add it to the post. survive climate change.
This group is trying a…

1. This chart details all spending by outside groups from 1990-2014. The surge in 2012
is obvious but compare outside spending in the 2006 midterms (pre Citizens United)
vs outside spending in the 2010 midterms (post Citizens United). Big difference.

Image courtesy of Open Secrets

2. Here's a look at all outside group spending through Jan. 21 (aka today) of an
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election year. Spending at this point in the 2014 cycle is already almost three times as
much as it was at this time in the 2010 election. And it's 25 times more than at this
point in the 2006 election.

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3. Conservatives have a far better organized and financed outside operation than do Capitol
liberals. It's also worth noting that Republicans had a contested presidential primary
in 2012 with vast sums spent by a handful of individuals to elect their preferred 4 Nearing Monday coronavirus
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preceded the Capitol riot

Image courtesy of Open Secrets

4. That GOP organization/fundraising advantage translates into more TV ads when it

matters. The chart below -- courtesy of CMAG/Kantar Media -- tracks the raw number
of ads run by candidates, party committees and outside groups beginning 130 days
before the 2010 and 2006 elections. It's no mistake that the red (Republican) line
soared between 2006 and 2010 while the blue (Democratic) one stayed largely steady.

Image courtesy of CMAG's Harley Ellenberger

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5. While the soaring spending on elections -- by unions, corporations and individuals - The most important news stories of the day, curated by
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- is well known by this point, what is less well understood is how Citizens United drove
massive amounts of cash into the non-profit political world, a world where disclosure Enter your email address

is not required. This chart details the over $300 million spent by outside groups with
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Image courtesy of Open Secrets

SUCCESS,
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6. And this one shows the rapid drop in the amount of donor disclosure by outside
groups.
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7. This chart, courtesy of Brendan Doherty, a political scientist at the U.S. Naval
Academy, shows the rapid increase in first term fundraisers by presidents. Writes
Doherty: "The combination of rising campaign costs and contribution limits that were
low relative to those costs for decades led presidents to spend increasing amounts of
their scarcest resource, their time, raising campaign funds. Citizens United
accelerated these dynamics, as the prospect of outside groups receiving contributions
in the millions provided an even greater incentive for President Obama to spend a
great deal of time raising money in the increments in the low thousands required by
campaign finance law."
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Image courtesy of Brendan Doherty

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By Chris Cillizza
Chris Cillizza wrote “The Fix,” a politics blog for The Washington Post. He left The Post in April 2017.

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