‘Who gave it, who got it?’ How political influence in Miami is bought — and concealed
The push to sway votes is expensive, and the true source of the dollars that pay for the ads can be a mystery. Whether it’s candidates or ballot measures, moneyed interests use political groups that can receive and spend unlimited, untraceable “dark money” to influence elections and pay for attack ads. Austin Graham, a lawyer with the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center’s State and Local Reform Program, said that he has seen examples in other states of political committees concealing their financial backers, especially committees involved in ballot initiatives. “With ballot initiatives where the economic stakes are pretty high you will see corporate interests trying to get involved in this stuff but trying to shield their involvement through pass-through entities,” Graham said.