By David Brancaccio, Alex Schroeder | Marketplace Morning Report
The “Marketplace Morning Report” is running a special series, “Secret Money, Public Influence,” on money, politics and whether campaign donors can be “secret Santas” who spend big but don’t have to disclose it. This election cycle, we traveled to Arizona, where, in a month, voters will decide whether some of the biggest campaign spenders should have to reveal their identities. How this measure got on the ballot, what it hopes to achieve and what opponents say about it provide lessons about the so-called dark money that can sway elections near you.
And it’s not just Arizona that’s doing this. Several other states have gone this route, including Alaska.
Turning back the clock two years, to 2020, campaigning during the COVID-19 pandemic meant rallies not at the state capitol in Juneau, but on computer screens instead. That’s where the group Alaskans for Better Elections had to turn to rally support for Ballot Measure 2, which included provisions for open primaries, ranked-choice voting and increased campaign finance disclosure.
