Peter Overby

A new analysis takes aim at one of political science's evergreen topics: What do donors get in exchange for their campaign contributions?

The answer, according to three researchers at Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business, is that "investments in on-going access to policymakers are associated with future ...

Every election cycle, big donors open their checkbooks for two Washington-based party organizations that are gradually remaking state legislative elections.

A new analysis by the Sunlight Foundation examines corporations that expend the most money in Washington on campaign contributions and lobbying. Defense contractors and finance giants lead the pack.

It's a record most Alaskans might wish they could give back: The Center for Public Integrity calculates that KTUU TV in Anchorage ran more U.S. Senate ads this cycle than any other television station in the country — 12,300 in all.

Those Senate spots made up the bulk ...

Tom Steyer, the hedge-fund billionaire, spent tens of millions of dollars in the midterms, mostly in seven senate and gubernatorial races. Most of his candidates lost, as will — presu...

The 2014 midterm election campaigns are almost over — all $3.7 billion worth of them. Most of that money was spent on television advertising.

Outside groups, and especially secret donor groups, are accounting for more of the spending than ever before

Melissa Block speaks with high school freshman Natalie Moyer about her experiment that was lost on the Antares rocket when it exploded on Tuesday.

Money is flowing into state elections for trial judges and supreme court justices. One big player is the little-known Washington group Republican State Leadership Committee.

Activist Tom Steyer has spent an astonishing $58 million this election cycle. He says he wants leaders in Washington who will take climate change seriously.

This midterm cycle, more than half the ads from so-called outside groups are being paid for by secret donors. That means voters will never know who's paying tens of millions of dollars for those ads.

Senate Majority PAC, run by allies of Senate Majority Leader Reid, is the top-spending superPAC in the midterm election season. Its donors are essentially a compilation of the party's big-donor base.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is millions of dollars ahead of the Republicans in fundraising, especially among the small-donor faithful.

Republican Party leaders are urging big donors to start writing checks, and the check-writers now include Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

NPR has confirmed a Politico report that Adelson is putting in $20 million, evenly divided between Crossroads GPS and American Action Network. Both are 501(c)(4) ...

It's open season on the wealthy political donors. Democratic campaign ads tie Republican candidates to the Koch brothers, while GOP ads paint sinister images of George Soros and Tom Steyer.

Tommy Boggs, a longtime lobbyist who in many ways epitomized the Washington establishment, has died. His sister, Morning Edition commentator Cokie Roberts, said he apparently had a heart attack.

Thomas Hale Boggs Jr., 73, pioneered a new, more professional way of lobbying starting in the 1960s, when he saw how ...

Americans generally agree that too much money is spent running for office. The Senate took up a proposed constitutional amendment that could change that, but it's not likely to ultimately pass.

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen were convicted on Thursday of federal corruption charges. They were acquitted only on a handful of lesser charges.

It was no secret that Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, who lost in his June GOP primary, spent the summer job-hunting. But it came as a surprise when the CEO of a Wall Street investment bank announced this week that he had hired the former House majority leader as managing ...

The wealthy Ricketts family includes conservatives and a liberal, activists and a candidate. Between them, they raise and spend a lot of political money — and exemplify how the system has changed.