Opinion: Red Team, Blue Team, Same Donors. Voting Won’t Fix It Until Money Is Out of Politics
The 2026 midterms are on Tuesday, Nov. 3 [1], and the ads are already running like a stuck throttle. Red team says blue team is ruining the country. Blue team says the same thing back, louder. Here's my view, and I'll stand behind it: Democrats and Republicans are equally corrupt, and voting won't change anything until we get money out of politics. I don't say that because I've given up. I say it because I followed the money, and it goes to both sides of the aisle.
Follow the money
OpenSecrets puts the total cost of the 2024 federal election at $14.8 billion. The 2022 midterms cost about $8.9 billion, and 2018 about $5.7 billion, in unadjusted dollars [2]. This year, outside groups had poured in nearly $2 billion by early October, and the six biggest groups had each spent more than $60 million, including the Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund on the Republican side and WinSenate PAC on the Democratic side [3]. Political ad spending alone was projected in January, by the ad tracker AdImpact, at $10.8 billion for this cycle [4].
Then there's the money that never touches a ballot. Organizations spent a record $5.08 billion lobbying the federal government in 2025, and 15,768 organizations reported lobbying, up from 14,061 the year before [5]. Nobody spends five billion dollars a year to be ignored. That's not a donation. It's an invoice.
How we got here
On Jan. 21, 2010, in Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court overruled earlier precedent that had allowed bans on independent expenditures by corporations [6]. Two months later, in SpeechNow.org v. FEC, a federal appeals court held that limits on contributions to a group making only independent expenditures violated the First Amendment [7]. Today the FEC's own guidance says those independent-expenditure-only committees, the super PACs, may accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor organizations and other political committees [8].
Unlimited. Read that word twice. Then ask yourself who has unlimited money, and whether it's you.
Both sides of the aisle
If you think this is a one-party problem, the court records disagree with you.
- Democrat: former U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey was sentenced to 11 years in prison for bribery, foreign agent and obstruction offenses after a jury convicted him in July 2024 [12, 13].
- Republican: former U.S. Rep. George Santos of New York pleaded guilty to fraud and identity theft, including stealing identities to make donations to his own campaign, and was expelled from the House. Facing more than seven years in prison, he had his sentence commuted by President Trump in October 2025 [14].
- Republican: former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder was sentenced in 2023 to 20 years for leading a racketeering conspiracy to receive nearly $61 million in bribes to pass and uphold a billion-dollar nuclear plant bailout. FirstEnergy agreed to pay a $230 million penalty [15, 17].
- Democrat: former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, longtime chair of the state Democratic Party, was sentenced in June 2025 to seven and a half years in a scheme involving payments from utility ComEd [18, 19].
And the stock trading. The STOCK Act requires members of Congress to report trades within 45 days. Business Insider found 78 members of the 117th Congress violated it, including 40 Republicans and 37 Democrats, and the standard penalty is $200 [9]. Two hundred dollars. I've paid more than that for a set of tires.
This summer the House finally passed the Stop Insider Trading Act, 232 to 198, on July 22 [11]. It would bar members, spouses and dependent children from buying individual stocks, but Democrats objected that it lets members keep what they already own and that it was paired with an unrelated voter ID provision [10]. On Sept. 30, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed, 53 to 47 [11]. A watered-down bill, bundled with a culture-war rider, stalled anyway. That's the system working exactly as designed.
Nobody trusts it, and both sides agree on the fix
Just 17% of Americans trust the government in Washington to do what is right just about always or most of the time, down from 22% a year earlier [16]. Gallup measured confidence in Congress at 9% in 2026 [20]. Meanwhile, 72% of Americans say there should be limits on how much individuals and organizations can spend on campaigns, and Pew found that support crosses ideological and demographic lines [21]. The voters agree. The donors don't. Guess who wins.
What would actually change it
- A constitutional amendment. H.J.Res. 121, introduced Sept. 11, 2025, proposes an amendment on contributions and expenditures intended to affect elections [22]. Short of the Court reversing itself, that's the road around Citizens United.
- Small-donor public financing. New York City matches eligible contributions up to $250 at $8 to $1, so a $10 gift becomes $90 for the campaign [23]. Seattle gives eligible residents four $25 Democracy Vouchers in regular election cycles [24].
- A real stock ban. Not a purchase pause. No individual stocks for members, spouses or dependents, with penalties that sting more than a parking ticket.
So here's where I land. Voting for the other color jersey won't fix a race where both teams have the same sponsors. Until money is out, the only question I'm asking anyone on my ballot is simple: will you vote to get it out, yes or no? I can't control who wins on Nov. 3. I can control what I demand, and I can refuse to pretend the problem belongs to only one side.
Election info: Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 [1]. Registration deadlines, early voting and ID rules vary by state, so check with your state or local election office.
Sources
- FEC, Election and voting information (election dates): https://www.fec.gov/introduction-campaign-finance/election-results-and-voting-information/
- OpenSecrets, Cost of Election (nominal dollars): https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/cost-of-election?cycle=2024&display=T&infl=N
- OpenSecrets, “Outside spending nears $2 billion – and the biggest groups pull further ahead,” Oct. 7, 2026: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2026/10/outside-spending-nears-2-billion-and-the-biggest-groups-pull-further-ahead/
- OpenSecrets, “Political ad spending is projected to reach a new high in 2026 midterms,” Jan. 20, 2026: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2026/01/political-ad-spending-is-projected-to-reach-a-new-high-in-2026-midterms/
- OpenSecrets, “Lobbying firms took in a record $5 billion in 2025,” Jan. 29, 2026: https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2026/01/lobbying-firms-took-in-a-record-5-billion-in-2025/
- FEC, Court case: Citizens United v. FEC: https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/court-cases/citizens-united-v-fec/
- FEC, Court case: SpeechNow.org v. FEC: https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/court-cases/speechnoworg-v-fec/
- FEC, Contributions to Super PACs and Hybrid PACs: https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/taking-receipts-pac/contributions-to-super-pacs-and-hybrid-pacs/
- Business Insider, “78 members of the 117th Congress violated a federal conflicts-of-interest and financial transparency law,” Jan. 3, 2023: https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-stocks-stock-act-violations-lawmakers-finances-disclosure-2022-12
- CBS News, “House passes bill to limit stock purchases by members of Congress,” July 22, 2026: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-stock-trading-limits-house-vote/
- Congress.gov, H.R.7008, Stop Insider Trading Act, All Actions: https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/7008/all-actions
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, SDNY, “Former U.S. Senator Robert Menendez Sentenced To 11 Years In Prison,” Jan. 29, 2025: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/former-us-senator-robert-menendez-sentenced-11-years-prison-bribery-foreign-agent-and
- AP, “Former US Sen. Bob Menendez gets 11 years in prison for taking bribes and acting as agent of Egypt”: https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-sentencing-new-jersey-bribery-fc8720f8b74fd431b40b1f7b4dcd5ac7
- AP, “Trump commutes sentence of former US Rep. George Santos,” Oct. 2025: https://apnews.com/article/trump-george-santos-commutation-pardon-8ae46d6351cefe01d79f74920521b7a2
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, SD Ohio, “Former Ohio House Speaker sentenced to 20 years in prison,” June 29, 2023: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdoh/pr/former-ohio-house-speaker-sentenced-20-years-prison-leading-racketeering-conspiracy
- Pew Research Center, “Public Trust in Government: 1958-2025,” Dec. 4, 2025: https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2025/12/04/public-trust-in-government-1958-2025/
- AP, “Ex-GOP Ohio House speaker sentenced to 20 years for role in $60M bribery scheme”: https://apnews.com/article/bribery-investigation-ohio-speaker-householder-sentenced-7ff5163a7d1fdbbfe6570ed34c7a7f67
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, ND Illinois, “Former Illinois Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan Sentenced to Seven and a Half Years,” June 13, 2025: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-illinois-speaker-house-michael-j-madigan-sentenced-seven-and-half-years-prison
- AP, “Longest-serving legislative leader in US history given 7 1/2 years in federal corruption case”: https://apnews.com/article/illinois-corruption-madigan-longest-serving-speaker-07cd2e4be0ec031b8a56b08b3b3670d7
- Gallup, “Confidence in U.S. Institutions Remains Near All-Time Low,” 2026: https://news.gallup.com/poll/712436/confidence-institutions-remains-near-time-low.aspx
- Pew Research Center, “7 facts about Americans’ views of money in politics,” Oct. 23, 2023: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/10/23/7-facts-about-americans-views-of-money-in-politics/
- H.J.Res.121, 119th Congress, introduced Sept. 11, 2025 (bill text, PDF): https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/hjres121/BILLS-119hjres121ih.pdf
- NYC Votes (NYC Campaign Finance Board), Matching Funds Program: https://www.nycvotes.org/get-involved/contribute/matching-funds-program/
- Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, Democracy Voucher Program: https://www.seattle.gov/ethics-and-elections/democracy-voucher-program
Opinion. The views are the author’s. All facts and links checked Oct. 18, 2026. Court cases are described as reported in official records and by the Associated Press; no claim is made beyond them. LOR endorses no party or candidate. For official voting information, contact your state or local election office.
