Dark money. Super PACs. Donation thresholds and contribution limits. These are big terms associated with campaign finance that may seem like a complicated barrier to covering elections.
With the upcoming midterm elections in mind, the Institute held a Jan. 16 webinar with Brendan Glavin, director of insights at OpenSecrets, to help journalists understand the terminology and rules involved in lobbying and campaign donations — and to share tools that all journalists can employ in their elections coverage in 2026 and beyond.
Here are three key considerations when looking into where the money is flowing in local and federal elections:
Contribution limits are a fundamental piece of the campaign finance system and vary widely:
- Federal races: Individuals can give $3,500 per election to a candidate, which translates to $7,000 per cycle (primary and general).
- State races: The contribution limits vary drastically; some states have no limits at all, while others are tightly capped.
Disclosure thresholds determine what data exists, which means that not all money will be visible:
- Federal disclosure: Donors who give more than $200 in aggregate must be reported and include the donor’s name, address, occupation, and employer.
- State disclosure: The disclosure rules and thresholds differ from state to state. The most common threshold is around $100 for disclosing identity, but in some states there is none at all.
- Smaller donations can be reported as unitemized contributions, which is a lump sum of individuals who gave less than the threshold.
- Missing data doesn’t always mean wrongdoing, but might indicate that the candidate or donor hasn’t reached a reporting threshold.
Understanding the different types of actors in campaign finance beyond individual donors:
- Candidates and campaigns can raise and spend money for their own races, subject to limits.
- Political parties have to file their own reports and detail their expenses and the source of their donations.
- Traditional PACs can give directly to candidates but are subject to contribution limits.
- Super PACs are prohibited from donating money directly to political candidates, and their spending must not be coordinated with that of the candidates they benefit. But they are not subject to contribution limits, making them a popular choice for extremely wealthy donors.
- Dark money groups — often 501(c)(4)s or LLCs — can spend on elections without disclosing donors. This is increasingly becoming a local issue where voters may see highly influential ads without knowing who paid for them.
- Corporations and unions are barred from contributing to federal elections, but, once again, state laws will differ. “Be aware of the jurisdiction that you’re writing about,” Glavin said.
Additional resources:
Watch the webinar: