“New Outside Groups Prove Worth to Conservative Donors”

Must-read Nick Confessore NYT:

Over the last year and a half, the conservative outside groups retooled and revamped, borrowing lessons about how to exploit voter data, opposition research and advertising learned from their less moneyed but more effective Democratic counterparts during 2012.

As federal courts opened new avenues of influence for the wealthy and lenient enforcement effectively neutered what few legal and regulatory restraints remain on big-money politics, they took advantage of every available tool. To shield donors from scrutiny, they moved most of their spending through nonprofit groups not subject to federal disclosure requirements. To be more nimble, they created subsidiaries devoted to specific races. They begged donors for money, overcame internal rivalries that lingered through Election Day, and ultimately deployed at least $300 million in a favorable political environment, helping drive the 2014 midterms to become the costliest in history.

All told, the political network overseen by the conservative billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch appeared to be the largest overall source of outside television spending on behalf of Republicans. Seven Koch-backed groups spent roughly $77 million on television advertising in the midterm elections, officials said, including eleven Senate races. Koch groups appeared to be the biggest outside spenders on television in Arkansas, Iowa and Louisiana, airing a combined $25 million in ads. Republican candidates won Arkansas and Iowa, and the party’s candidate is favored to win a coming runoff in Louisiana.

American Crossroads and its affiliated nonprofit group spent $50 million on political advertising, and at least $20 million more on so-called issue ads, a spokesman said. The groups dominated outside spending in Alaska, where the Crossroads groups put about $7 million into television advertising, and Colorado, fielding close to $14 million, which helped crush Senator Mark Udall, the Democratic incumbent who was once favored to win.

All told, Republican outside groups spent about $205 million on television advertising, according to a Democrat tracking media purchases, while Democratic groups spent $132 million.

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