WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- More than 30 super political action committees, or "independent expenditure-only committees," have been registered in two months, U.S. election officials say.
The PACs were made possible by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling removing limits on corporate election spending. The Federal Election Commission reports they have spent more than $8 million so far on the mid-term elections, mostly in the last month and about three-quarters of it aimed at helping Republican candidates, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.
Trevor Potter, a former FEC chairman who worked for U.S. Sen. John McCain's Republican presidential campaign in 2008, called the super PACs the "clearest, easiest way to spend money on an election." Unlike conventional PACs for specific candidates, the super PACs do not have to limit donor contributions.
"This is pretty much the holy grail that people have been looking for," Potter said.
American Crossroads, a group associated with Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bush's political career, spent $2.8 million in two days on television ads attacking Democrats, the Post said.
