Surging corporate spending in 2026 elections is a threat to democracy warns a US consumer advocacy organisation.

On 30 June the US Supreme Court’s right-wing supermajority struck down restrictions on political parties coordinating campaign spending with candidates. This ruling coincides with a new report from government watchdog Public Citizen that has revealed how “corporate supremacist” groups have already set records for spending in this year’s mid-term elections.

There are still more than four months to go until the general election, but according to The Rise of Corporate Supremacist Super PACs by research director Rick Claypool, this campaign cycle accounts for nearly one-third of all corporate political spending since the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) ruling.

That decision has enabled corporations and groups including super political action committees (PACs) to spend unlimited money on elections, and in the 2026 cycle alone, they have already spent $517 million – “a figure sure to soar as the November general election approaches,” said Public Citizen.

“These totals reference disclosed political spending, not any contributions from dark money organisations that keep donors secret,” the group emphasised.

The amount spent this year by Big Tech, fossil fuel companies, the cryptocurrency industry and other sectors whose bottom lines........

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