Michael Beckel

So thrilled to have been invited onto Hasan Minhaj Doesn’t Know to discuss how people are fighting back against the undue influence of big money and dark money in elections. Watch the full hour-long interview here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=4-N5...

NEW: Conservative powerbroker Cleta Mitchell has raised a grassroots army to transform American voting systems and worked closely with the administration to enact her plans. No one besides Trump himself has done more to overhaul elections.

The top 40 donors in the midterms have given $2.5 BILLION as of mid-October. That's more than 8x the $308 million the top 40 donors gave thru mid-October in the 2014 midterm cycle, the first full midterm cycle after #CitizensUnited h/t @brennancenter.org www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Great scoop by @sludge.bsky.social: How Elon Musk secretly bankrolled the effort to get Cornel West onto the ballot during the 2024 presidential election 👇

10 years ago today, Trump’s DC hotel opened. It taught him people will pay a sitting president, and there will be no repercussions. Want to understand the second term’s corruption? Start with the hotel:

The four main super PACs aligned with congressional leadership have raised nearly $1.5 billion this election cycle. More than $1 of every $4 is from secret donors giving through party-aligned dark money groups — nearly $400 million, via @issueonereform.bsky.social issueone.org/articles/lea...

97% of Colorado taxpayers would get a tax cut under Amendment 87. But former Obama cabinet secretary Ken Salazar is urging voters to reject it. Salazar has previously reported multimillion-dollar earnings that could put him among those facing higher taxes.

New FEC filings show the four main super PACs aligned with congressional leadership have combined to raise nearly $400 MILLION from their affiliated #darkmoney groups — more than $1 of every $4 of their receipts issueone.org/articles/lea...

New FEC filings show how both parties are raising big bucks from secret donors. Congress must do more to empower voters. issueone.org/articles/lea...

Number of the day: $400 million. That's how much money dark money groups aligned with congressional leadership have funneled to the major super PACs focused on control of Congress ahead of the midterms h/t @issueonereform.bsky.social issueone.org/articles/lea...

What does it mean that the Federal Election Commission lacks a quorum in the home stretch of the 2026 midterms? @njspotlightnews.org investigates, citing @issueonereform.bsky.social & @campaignlegal.org www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/10/not-...

How much pressure are lawmakers under to raise $$$? LOTS. New @issueonereform.bsky.social review of FEC filings shows the typical House member in a competitive re-election race raised an average of about $13,000 PER DAY during the third quarter of 2026. 👇

Disgraced former Rep. Tony Gonzales’ campaign paid wife’s companies thousands of dollars after his resignation, reports Haajrah Gilani of @expressnews.com citing @issueonereform.bsky.social & @citizensforethics.org www.expressnews.com/politics/art...

NEW from @issueonereform.bsky.social: AI companies cast themselves as champions for the public good, but lobbying and campaign finance records reveal how they have worked behind the scenes to block the guardrails that would hold them accountable issueone.org/articles/ai-...

at @IssueOneReform: A bipartisan group of more than two dozen former elected officials who are part of Issue One’s ReFormers Caucus has lent their support to The Montana Plan! Link in thread. #themontanaplan

I hope Democrats are ready to blow up the system with campaign finance and transparency reforms. Trust is already at an all-time low. We don't get out of this mess without rebuilding trust.

Bipartisan group of 26 former elected officials — 13 Republicans and 13 Democrats — lends support to innovative Montana ballot measure to end corporate and dark money spending in elections issueone.org/press/bipart...

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“The sad reality today is that both Republicans and Democrats are pumping massive amounts of money into opaque groups, leaving voters in the dark about which ultra-wealthy megadonors and special interests are trying to buy access and influence.” -- @mjbeckel.bsky.social

It's outrageous that super PACs, which must, by law, disclose their funders, are able to game transparency rules in so many ways anchoragepress.com/revealed-the...

NEW: Megadonors have now poured *2.3 billion* into the midterm elections. Leading the pack is Elon Musk, the world's richest man, who is now the biggest individual political donor in American history. Meet all the megadonors, and see who they give to, here: www.washingtonpost.com/elections/in...

How are people fighting back against big money in politics? In an interview with comedian Hasan Minhaj, I count the ways, including efforts to cap super PAC contributions, the Montana Plan ballot measure to end corporate and dark money spending, and more www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-N5...

I sat down with comedian and former Daily Show correspondent @hasanminhaj.com to discuss how wealthy interests have corrupted American elections and how fundraising dominates the schedules of members of Congress. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-N5...

Comedian @hasanminhaj.com goes deep on the “Microsoft Excel of political corruption, campaign financing.” Featuring @mjbeckel.bsky.social, who knows his way around both a spreadsheet and election money. youtu.be/4-N5tI8gsPo

👏👏👏 "Protecting political speech does not require treating every question about who financed that speech as an attempt to suppress it" writes Republican state Rep. Jason Thompson of Utah in @washingtonexaminer.bsky.social op-ed www.washingtonexaminer.com/op-eds/47541...

Reminder, via @gabekaminsky.bsky.social @cbsnews.com: As we head into the home stretch of the 2026 midterms, the Federal Election Commission is a watchdog without much bite or bark www.cbsnews.com/news/fec-mid...

HAPPENING TONIGHT AT 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET: Virtual happy hour hosted by @fixdemocracyfirst.bsky.social & @issueonereform.bsky.social Come learn more about big money in the 2026 midterms and how people are fighting back! RSVP here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Across the country, voters in red, blue, and purple states are taking back control of their elections from megadonors and special interests. They aren’t waiting for Washington. And they’re winning, often by landslides. thereformcompass.substack.com/p/how-big-mo...

New @issueonereform.bsky.social polling shows overwhelming, cross-partisan support for political reforms issueone.org/new-polling-...

My latest on the @issueonereform.bsky.social Substack: "How Big Money Ruined America’s Campaign Finance System — and How We Can Fix It" thereformcompass.substack.com/p/how-big-mo...

THIS Wednesday! We're back on with our Democracy Happy Hour. Register here: bit.ly/DemocracyHap... Guest speaker & host: @mjbeckel.bsky.social, Director of Money in Politics Reform, @issueonereform.bsky.social Topic: Impacts from SCOTUS' 2026 NRSC v. FEC ruling, & how people are fighting back

Want to learn more about how people are fighting back against corporate and dark money in our elections? Don't miss this virtual event ON WEDNESDAY at 5 PM PT hosted by @issueonereform.bsky.social and @fixdemocracyfirst.bsky.social, featuring me as a special guest! us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

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Government contractors today routinely try to leverage a broken campaign finance system to their advantage theintercept.com/2026/10/05/s...

🚨 Remember that fancy dinner Trump hosted at his golf club for top holders of his meme coin, and Justin Sun and a bunch of other foreign investors attended? Well, he's doing it again. @jeffstein.bsky.social for @washingtonsun.com

South Dakota’s Republican secretary of state once questioned vote-counting machines. Four years later, she is defending them and backing a Democrat to replace her.

Montana voters have the opportunity to blaze a new trail in the fight against corporate and dark money spending in elections and preserve a form of democracy that actually works on behalf of all of us, as I explained in this op-ed www.easternprogress.com/montanans-bl...

While the phrase "party dues" sounds innocuous, this system distorts lawmakers’ attention and priorities by forcing elected leaders onto a non-stop fundraising treadmill. The sums involved are massive. Learn more from @issueonereform.bsky.social issueone.org/press/alarm-...

House Majority PAC, the House-focused super PAC aligned with Democrats raised $25 million in August, new FEC filing shows. 80% of that sum — $20 million — came from HMP's allied dark money group, House Majority Forward docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/form...

New: Trump called crypto "thin air." Last year, he reported $1.4 billion in income from it. Buyers of his crypto? They're an estimated $4.7 billion underwater. I made an 8-bit game out of it— 📈 Play as Trump: you cannot lose money. 📉 Play as an investor: you cannot win.

Are you a reporter interested in learning tips about tracking #darkmoney in politics? @issueonereform.bsky.social & @muckrock.com will be hosting a training TODAY at 1:30 PM ET. Register here us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

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"midterms coverage so far veers much more toward horse-race than importance, constantly breaking the wise Jay Rosen rule that called for the media to cover 'not the odds, but the stakes'.” @sulliview.bsky.social This is no time for autocracy-washing. margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/the-truth-...

Number of the day: $642 million. Super PACs have collected at least $642 million from dark money sources this election. h/t @sludge.bsky.social @thenation.com @donnydonny.bsky.social www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Flashback: After the 2020 election, a bipartisan pair of former 9/11 Commissioners called for a "smooth and orderly transfer of power." Words from their op-ed that still ring true today: "An orderly presidential transition is needed to keep America secure" www.nytimes.com/2020/11/22/o...

Number of the day: $1.2 billion: Amount of $$ the top 20 political donors have contributed to candidates, parties, and super PACs this election cycle, per @nytimes.com @teddyschleifer.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

SCOOP: A new USPS inspector general’s audit found a lack of training for post office staff, deficiencies in how ballots were tracked and errors leading to delays. Experts say it raises questions ahead of the midterms. @jenafifield.bsky.social

A foreign government is channeling money to a super PAC associated with a sitting U.S. Senator. Here’s how.