According to Buying Time 2025 election spending data as of March 26, 2025, more than $81.4 million has been spent on the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford and Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel, making it the most expensive state judicial election in US history. 

Early voting starts March 18 in Wisconsin’s high-stakes Supreme Court race. Super PACs have fueled record-breaking spending, which is now close to $59 million and has surpassed the previous record set in 2023 for a state Supreme Court election.

January 21, 2025, marked the 15th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, a decision that opened the floodgates for unlimited corporate spending in elections. Since that ruling, super PACs and outside spending have skyrocketed, and the voices of everyday voters have been drowned out by wealthy donors and corporate interests. The impact of Citizens United is clear: the political system is increasingly controlled by the rich, while ordinary voters are left behind.

Ballotpedia reports this week that in 2026, Alaska’s independent voters will have the chance to solidify their role as election reform pioneers by voting on two initiatives.

The Chamberlain Project, an organization I co-founded with Peter Ackerman a decade ago, has been dissolved. The Chamberlain Boards have voted to combine all of Chamberlain’s associated entities, including Americans Elect, Level the Playing Field, the Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, and Citizens to End SuperPACs, with the Foundation for Independent Voter Education (FIVE),

Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore last week introduced a resolution in support of a constitutional amendment designed to restore states' authority to regulate campaign finance laws. The announcement came just days before the anniversary of the infamous Citizens United Supreme Court ruling.

The 2024 elections broke another spending record from independent political groups. Yet, amidst billions being used to influence voter decisions, Maine citizens voted to rein in this spending on Election Day.

Voters have much to consider in the 2024 election cycle, but for most citizens it is not just who will be the next president or their next senator or their next representative -- there are also ballot measures that may have a greater impact on their lives.

In an effort to raise awareness about the staggering influence of PAC money in politics, RepresentUs, the nation’s largest grassroots anti-corruption organization, has partnered with OpenSecrets, a go-to source to track the flow of money in US politics.