Outside & Dark Money · 2010–2024
Unlimited money, fewer names.
In 2010, Citizens United let outside groups spend without limit on elections. Reported outside spending has since grown from $1.3B in 2012 to $4.4B in 2024 — about 3.5 times as much.
The decision created a new kind of committee — the super PAC — that can raise and spend unlimited sums. By 2024 super PACs accounted for about 61% of all outside spending.
And a growing share of the money is untraceable. "Dark money" — spending by groups that don't disclose their donors — reached a record $1.9B in 2024, and at least $4.3 billion since the decision.
The bigger picture · total cost of elections since 2000
OpenSecrets
Every federal dollar — candidates, parties, and outside groups combined. The cost roughly doubled in the 2000s, then nearly tripled again after 2016. Not all of it is Citizens United, but the steepest climb tracks the rise of outside money.
| Cycle | Type | Total cost ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | presidential | 3100 |
| 2002 | midterm | 2200 |
| 2004 | presidential | 4100 |
| 2006 | midterm | 2900 |
| 2008 | presidential | 5300 |
| 2010 | midterm | 3600 |
| 2012 | presidential | 6300 |
| 2014 | midterm | 3800 |
| 2016 | presidential | 6500 |
| 2018 | midterm | 5700 |
| 2020 | presidential | 15100 |
| 2022 | midterm | 8900 |
| 2024 | presidential | 15900 |
The surge · outside spending by cycle
FEC
Total reported independent expenditures each federal election cycle, split by who spent it. Super PACs (green) and hybrid PACs — both products of 2010 — now make up the overwhelming majority.
| Cycle | Super PACs | Hybrid PACs | Other IE | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | n/a | n/a | 1250.5 | 1250.5 |
| 2014 | 339.4 | 2.6 | 445.8 | 787.8 |
| 2016 | 1100 | 46.7 | 484.3 | 1631 |
| 2018 | 820.5 | 72.9 | 407.6 | 1301 |
| 2020 | 2000 | 552.2 | 591.5 | 3143.7 |
| 2022 | 1300 | 555 | 400.0 | 2255 |
| 2024 | 2700 | 1400 | 326.5 | 4426.5 |
The takeover · super PACs' share of outside spending
FEC
Super PACs did not exist before 2010. Within a few cycles they became the dominant outside vehicle, rising to roughly six in every ten outside dollars.
| Cycle | Super PAC share |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 43% |
| 2016 | 67% |
| 2018 | 63% |
| 2020 | 64% |
| 2022 | 58% |
| 2024 | 61% |
The shadows · dark money by cycle
OpenSecrets · Brennan Center
Spending by groups that never disclose their donors. The lighter bars (2010–2016) and darker bars (2020, 2024) come from two different methods — read them as two series sharing an axis, not one trend.
| Cycle | Dark money ($M) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 127 | OpenSecrets |
| 2012 | 308 | OpenSecrets |
| 2014 | 174 | OpenSecrets |
| 2016 | 216 | OpenSecrets |
| 2020 | 1000 | Brennan Center (2024) |
| 2024 | 1900 | Brennan Center (2024) |
A note on the numbers
The outside-spending figures are reported totals from the FEC and are directly comparable across cycles. The dark-money figures are estimates, and the 2010–2016 and 2020–2024 numbers use different methods — the later years add undisclosed TV and digital ads, so the jump partly reflects better measurement. All figures are nominal dollars, not inflation-adjusted. This is the high-level view; per-donor and per-race detail is coming.