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Explore

Go beyond your ballot. Explore the concentrations of wealth and power that flow into politics, media, and markets.

Two Ways to Explore

Bottom-Up: Start With Your Location

Enter your ZIP code to see your representatives, then follow the money upward to see who funds them and trace donations to their ultimate source.

Top-Down: Start With Power

Browse the indexes of top donors, corporations, and influential families to see how wealth and power flow into politics.

How Political Money Flows

Understanding who funds candidates—and where that money really comes from.

Transparent
Individuals
Corporate PACs
Labor Union PACs

Donations over $200 are publicly disclosed by the FEC. You can see exactly who gave and how much.

Semi-Transparent
Super PACs
Victory Funds

Can accept unlimited donations. Donors are disclosed, but money often passes through multiple committees before reaching candidates.

Dark Money
501(c)(4) "Social Welfare"
501(c)(6) Trade Groups
Shell LLCs

Not required to disclose donors. Can funnel unlimited money to Super PACs. The true source is legally hidden.

All this money flows to one of two places
Path A

Money the Campaign Controls

a.k.a. "Campaign Cash"

Direct donations to candidate
PAC contributions (within limits)
Party committee transfers
đź’°

Legal limits apply

Individuals: $3,300/candidate/election. PACs: $5,000. Campaign decides how to spend it.

Path B

Money Spent to Influence You

a.k.a. "The Ad Machine"

Super PAC ads for/against candidates
Issue ads ("Call Senator X about...")
501(c)(4) "voter education"
📺

No limits. No coordination.

Can spend unlimited amounts. Cannot coordinate with campaign. This is where dark money often shows up.

đź’ˇ

The Key Insight

When a billionaire wants to support a candidate, they can give $3,300 directly (Path A)—or give $50 million to a Super PAC running ads (Path B). Same donor, vastly different impact. Both are legal. We show you both.

Why this matters: When you see a politician vote a certain way, understanding who funded their campaign and who ran ads supporting them helps you evaluate potential influences. We show you the connections—you draw your own conclusions.