Common Cause Report Analyzes Independent Expenditures in the 2013 NYC Elections (Updated)

Common Cause NY has released a report titled “Analysis of Independent Expenditures in the 2013 New York City Elections.”  It looks at spending by “independent” committees (those that are not affiliated with a particular candidate) and issued a report analyzing their expenditures.

Some of the report’s findings include:

• 47 “independent expenditure” (IE) committees spent $15.4 million in total, including all in city-wide, borough-wide and City Council races;
• this represents about 15% of the $99.5 million in candidate expenditures made in 2013;
• independent expenditure spending represented about 41% of the $37.6 million in total matching funds paid by the NYC CFB during the cycle
• labor-backed IE groups spent 53% of all independent dollars; business interests spent 38%.

In terms of recommendations, Common Cause wants the Citizens United decision overturned via a constitutional amendment.  They also call for great disclosure of spending by groups making independent expenditures, as well as of their donors.  They argue that this will limit their ability to raise and spend independent monies.

Update: A Common Cause NY staffer contacted me this morning to let me know that their overview mistakenly under-reported the amount NYC CFB paid out in matching funds in 2013 — the correct number is $37.6 million, not $10.3 million.  This post has been revised to correct that.  I’m looking forward to doing a thorough read of their analysis in the next couple of days.  Thanks to Common Cause for reaching out to make sure that I got it right.