Ever since the passage of Citizens United, a Supreme Court case in 2010, superPACS have been allowed to give unlimited amounts of money to endorse candidates. A political action committee is any organization in the United States that campaigns for or against political candidates. A superPAC may not make contributions to candidates, but can engage in unlimited political spending independent of the candidate.
SuperPACS have taken full advantage of the senate race between Mandel and Brown. These outside interest groups have been flooding the state with money going to attack ads, mostly against Brown.
One PAC alone, the Crossroads PAC, has already spent approximately $9 million dollars against Brown with several million more in reserve for the last few weeks before the election. The total outside money spent against Brown exceeds $23 million, while the total amount against Mandel is $8 million. Both Brown’s and Mandel’s campaigns have also raised many millions of dollars in the state. Brown has raised $15 million from individual contributions, and Mandel has raised $10 million. This total of $25 million is more than the entire amount spent in each of the state’s last two Senate races.
Despite all the money pouring into Ohio targeting Brown, Brown still has a 5-7 point lead.
A version of this article appeared in print on 31 October 2012, on page 2 of The Shakerite.
