New Hampshire politicians get their funding from the usual array of sources – from PACs, SuperPACS, and campaign contributions, to the national party, and their own pockets. We’re sitting down with three experts who have watched this year’s New Hampshire campaigns, including issues like dark money, outside spending, and special interests.
GUESTS:
- Russ Choma – money-in-politics reporter for the Center for Responsive Politics. In that role, he writes for the OpenSecrets Blog. Formerly, he spent five years as a newspaper reporter in New Hampshire.
- Dante Scala– associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of New Hampshire. He's also a fellow at UNH's Carsey School of Public Policy
- Brian Wallstin– digital reporter for NHPR. He covers campaign funding in N.H. races.
*For more info on where N.H.'s candidates are getting their funding, click here.
LINKS:
- Top 10 Things You Need To Know about money in politics, from Open Secrets: Polls show that voters, in general, don't like Congress. But even in the tumultuous 2010 elections, most incumbents who sought re-election were successful. It may not surprise you, then, that major donors give the great majority of their campaign dollars to incumbents. It's usually a very safe bet to make.
- Open Secrets looks at out-of-state money in N.H.'s 2014 elections: "But the reality is that almost all of the fuel for this fight on both sides is coming from outside the state."
- Brian Wallstin's report on dark money in N.H. races: "Of the roughly $9.9 million in independent expenditures so far, groups that do not disclose their donors have accounted for more than $5 million - nearly all of it aimed at softening up the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, for the November general election."
