Follow the money
Who paid for that ad?
Most of the money in Montana elections leaves a public trail. This page shows you where to look, what the words on a filing mean, and where the trail can go cold, and the warning signs that outside money is working around the rules.
See who funds a candidate
State and local races
Legislature, statewide offices, judges, county, city and school races all report to Montana's Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP). Search any candidate or committee in CERS, COPP's free public reporting system, and open their reports to see each donor's name, address, occupation and employer.
Federal races
Candidates for President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House report to the Federal Election Commission. Search candidates, PACs and outside spending at FEC.gov. The independent expenditures search shows who spent money for or against a candidate without working with the campaign.
A candidate's money is the easy part. Montana bans anonymous contributions to candidates and bars corporations and unions from giving to them directly, so every dollar a candidate takes has a name on it. The harder part is money spent by other groups, covered below.
Sources: COPP; MCA 13-37-217, 13-35-227; FEC.
See who paid for an ad
- Read the "paid for by" line. Montana law requires it on every mailer, ad and sign about a candidate or ballot issue, with the payer's name and address. A committee also has to name one of its officers. That name is your starting point.
- TV, radio and cable: stations keep political files showing political ad time sold, and to whom. Look up any Montana station in the FCC's public inspection files.
- Facebook and Instagram: ads about elections, politics and social issues must carry a "paid for by" disclaimer and stay in the Meta Ad Library for seven years.
- Google and YouTube: U.S. election advertisers have to verify who they are, and their ads must say who paid. Search them in the Google Ads Transparency Center.
Sources: MCA 13-35-225; FCC Public Inspection Files; Meta, Feb. 2026; Google political content policy.
The kinds of money, in plain words
| Term | What it means | Do you see the donors? |
|---|---|---|
| Contribution | Money or help given straight to a candidate, with limits | Yes, on the candidate's reports |
| Independent expenditure | Money a group or person spends on its own ads for or against a candidate or ballot issue, without coordinating with the campaign. No limit on the amount. | The spending is reported. The donors depend on who spent it. |
| Super PAC | A federal committee that only makes independent expenditures. It can take unlimited money from people, corporations and unions, but can't give to candidates. | Yes, it reports its donors to the FEC. A donor can be another group. |
| 501(c)(4) "social welfare" nonprofit | A nonprofit that can do some political work, as long as politics isn't its main activity | Usually no. Federal law doesn't make these groups name their donors publicly. |
"Dark money" is the everyday name for election spending by groups that don't have to say where their money came from. It isn't a legal term. A common pattern: a super PAC's report lists a nonprofit as its big donor, and the trail stops there because the nonprofit doesn't have to name its own donors.
Sources: FEC, independent expenditures; FEC, registering as a super PAC; IRS, social welfare organizations; IRS, contributors' identities not subject to disclosure; MCA 13-1-101.
Montana's disclosure rules
Here's what Montana law asks of anyone spending on a state or local election, in plain language:
- The $250 line. Once any group spends more than $250 on ads or mail about a Montana candidate or ballot issue, it counts as a political committee. It has to register with COPP and file reports.
- The 60-day window. A paid ad that names a candidate, party or ballot issue within 60 days of when voting starts counts as an "electioneering communication," even if it never says "vote for" or "vote against." It's reportable like any other election spending.
- Groups that mostly do something else, like a business or nonprofit, become "incidental committees" when they spend on an election. They must report that spending and the donors who gave money for it.
- "Paid for by" on everything, with a name and address. The law doesn't require an ad to list a group's top donors, so check COPP for those.
A federal appeals court upheld Montana's disclosure law, passed in 2015, against a challenge.
Sources: MCA 13-1-101(22), (29), (31), (38); MCA 13-35-225; COPP Accounting and Reporting Manual for Political Committees; KTVH on the Ninth Circuit ruling.
I-194, the "Montana Plan"
Montana voters passed Initiative 194 on Nov. 3, 2026, with about 65% voting yes in early returns. It changes state law, not the state constitution.
- What it does: Montana grants corporations and similar groups their legal powers, and I-194 takes election spending out of those powers. It covers corporations, nonprofits, trusts, partnerships, trade associations, unions and other associations doing business in Montana, including ones based out of state. They can't spend on candidates, political parties or state and local ballot issues.
- What it doesn't cover: individual people, political committees, government, and news, commentary and editorials.
- The penalty: a group that breaks it loses its privileges to do business in Montana until it gives up the money and certifies it's following the law.
- When it starts: Jan. 1, 2027. Until then, the current rules above apply.
- What could change that: opponents call it unconstitutional and a court fight is expected. The 2027 Legislature can also amend or repeal it.
Sources: Daily Montanan, Nov. 4, 2026; Montana Free Press, Nov. 4, 2026; CNBC, Nov. 6, 2026.
Worked example: a mailer shows up in your box
Say a glossy mailer attacks a legislative candidate a month before the election. The bottom reads "Paid for by Montanans for Better Roads," with an address and a treasurer's name. (The group is made up for this example.)
Search the name in CERS
It's a state race, so go to CERS and search "Montanans for Better Roads." If it spent more than $250, it should be registered as a committee.
Open its reports
Look at the contributions list. You'll see each donor and amount, and on the spending side, what the group paid for the mailer and who printed it.
Follow each donor
If the donors are people, you're done. If a donor is another group, search that name too, in CERS, or at FEC.gov if it's a federal PAC.
Notice where it stops
If a donor is a nonprofit that doesn't report its own donors, that's where the public trail ends. You can still say so: "most of this mailer's money came from a group that doesn't disclose its donors" is a fair, checkable statement.
Not registered at all?
Contact COPP and ask. The Commissioner takes complaints about missing "paid for by" lines and gives the group a short deadline to fix them.
How to follow the money in COPP's CERS, step by step
Every state and local candidate and committee in Montana files in CERS, the Campaign Electronic Reporting System. Searching it is free and you don't need an account. Start at cers-ext.mt.gov/CampaignTracker/public/search.
Pick a search tab
CERS has four: Candidate Search (by name, election year, campaign type, office sought, county or party), Committee Search (by name, election year or committee type, such as Independent, Incidental, Ballot Issue or Political Party), Contribution Search and Expenditure Search. The last two let you search by candidate, committee, contributor or payee, and filter by amount, party, office and date range.
Open the filings
A candidate or committee page lists its registration and every finance report. Here's what each form is:
Form Who files it What it shows C-1 or C-1A, Statement of Candidate Candidates (C-1 for statewide, legislative, PSC and district judge races; C-1A for county, city and school races) Who's running and for what. Filed within five days of raising or spending money, naming a treasurer, or filing for office. C-2, Statement of Organization Every political committee The committee's name, its treasurer, and the officers who sign its reports C-5, Candidate Campaign Finance Report Candidates All contributions received and money spent in the period C-6, Political Committee Finance Report Ballot issue, independent and political party committees All contributions received and money spent in the period C-4, Incidental Committee Finance Report Businesses and nonprofits that become committees by spending on a race Money given for the election work, and what the group spent on it C-7, Notice of Pre-Election Contributions Candidates and committees Big contributions that arrive in the final weeks, filed within two business days C-7E, Notice of Pre-Election Expenditures Candidates and committees Big spending in the final weeks, including unpaid bills, filed within two business days Read both sides of the report
Contributions are the money coming in: who gave, how much, when, and for a person, their occupation and employer. Expenditures are the money going out: who got paid, how much, and for what. The spending side tells you who printed the mailer, who bought the ads and which consultants are on the payroll.
When a donor is another committee, go one level back
If a contributor is an organization instead of a person, copy its name, go to Committee Search and look it up. Open that committee's own reports and read its contributions. Repeat until you reach people or a group that doesn't report. If the name is a federal PAC, look it up on FEC.gov instead.
Find independent expenditures and electioneering communications
In Expenditure Search, choose a committee or payee and use the Search Independent Expenditures or Search Electioneering Communications option. That pulls the spending outside groups reported for or against a candidate or ballot issue.
Download it
Contribution and expenditure results can go to an Excel spreadsheet with the Download icon. Results show five rows at a time, and the Display menu raises that to 100. CERS doesn't allow one download of everything: each search covers one candidate or committee for one election year.
When new money shows up. In an election year, candidates file C-5 reports on the 20th of March, April, May, June, August, September, October and November. Committees file on the 30th of the same months. In the year before an election, both file quarterly. The last regular report before a November election covers money through mid-October for candidates and through Oct. 24 for committees. After that, late money shows up only in C-7 and C-7E notices:
- Candidates file within two business days, from the 15th of the month before the election, when one contribution hits the contribution limit or one expenditure meets or tops it. Unopposed candidates are exempt.
- Committees file within two business days, from the 25th of the month before the election, for any contribution or expenditure of $500 or more.
Everything in those notices also lands on the next regular report, which for a November election is due after Election Day. COPP posts each year's dates on its reporting calendars page.
Sources: CERS public search and "How to Search CERS"; COPP forms page; COPP committee manual; Form C-4 instructions; C-7 and C-7E instructions; 2026 candidate and committee calendars; MCA 13-37-226.
The same trail on FEC.gov
For U.S. Senate, U.S. House and presidential races.
Start at the candidate's page
Search the name at FEC.gov candidates. Each candidate page has tabs for Financial Summary, Raising, Spending, Spending by others to support or oppose (the outside money) and Filings.
Read the receipts (Schedule A)
The receipts search lists itemized contributions. Filter by recipient, source name, city, state, employer, occupation, date or amount. The Export button downloads the results.
Read the outside spending (Schedule E)
The independent expenditures search shows who spent for or against each candidate. Super PACs and other committees report this spending on Schedule E. Groups that aren't committees, like nonprofits, use Form 5.
Check the 24- and 48-hour reports for late money
The independent expenditures search has a 24- and 48-Hour Reports option. Once a group's outside spending in a race reaches $10,000, it files a 48-hour report, up to the 20th day before the election. Inside the last 20 days, spending of $1,000 or more has to be reported by the next day. Candidates also file 48-hour notices for contributions of $1,000 or more received in the last 20 days.
Click through the donor committee
When a super PAC's receipts show another committee as a donor, search that committee's name, open its page and read its receipts. If the trail ends at a nonprofit with no FEC reports, that's where disclosure stops.
Senate candidates file quarterly reports plus reports before each election they're in and after the general. The law requires the FEC to post electronically filed reports within 24 hours, and offers bulk data downloads.
Sources: FEC candidate pages; FEC receipts search; FEC, making independent expenditures; FEC, reporting on Form 3X; FEC, 48-hour notices; FEC, reports due in 2026; FEC, researching public records.
How dark money moves
Everything above is how the trail is supposed to work. The rest of this page is about how outside money gets around it, so you can recognize it when you see it. None of it is a playbook to copy.
501(c)(4) "social welfare" groups
They can do some political work as long as politics isn't their main activity. The IRS doesn't count campaign work as social welfare, and it can tax their political spending.
501(c)(6) trade associations
Chambers of commerce and industry groups. The IRS says they aren't disqualified just for doing some political activity, though they may owe a tax on it or have to tell members how much of their dues went to it.
501(c)(5) labor unions
Unions are tax-exempt groups too. Like the other two, they generally don't have to publish who gives them money.
How the money reaches a race. A nonprofit can run its own ads, or it can write a check to a super PAC. Super PACs may take unlimited money from corporations, unions and other PACs. The super PAC reports the nonprofit as its donor, and the nonprofit doesn't report its own. That's where the trail stops.
What Montana makes them disclose. When a nonprofit or business spends on a state or local race, it becomes an incidental committee and files with COPP. It has to list every payment it made for election work, plus anyone who gave $35 or more either for a named candidate or ballot issue or in answer to the group's appeal for its election activity. Money given to the group for general purposes isn't on that list, so a report can be complete and still not tell you who's really behind it.
Sources: IRS, social welfare organizations; IRS, business leagues; IRS, contributors' identities; FEC, super PACs; MCA 13-37-232; Montana Free Press and CNBC on I-194.
Pass-through money: when the donor is another committee
Sometimes money moves from a nonprofit to a PAC, then to another PAC, before anyone spends it on an ad. Each stop is legal on its own. By the time you read the last report, the "donor" listed is just another committee, and the people who wrote the first check are several reports away or never named at all.
How to spot it on a report:
- The donor is an organization. The contributor line names a PAC, an LLC, a fund or a nonprofit instead of a person with an occupation and employer.
- Big round transfers. $250,000 or $1,000,000 in one line, from one group, often days before the money goes back out as ads.
- One donor, one purpose. A committee that gets nearly all its money from a single group and spends it on a single race.
- Brand-new names. A committee that registered a few weeks before the election, with a hometown-sounding name and no history.
A Montana example from 2024. In the Tester and Sheehy U.S. Senate race, Montana Free Press reported that PACs spent $137.3 million by mid-October. The race's top-spending PAC, Last Best Place PAC, which backed Tester, was funded entirely by Majority Forward, a nonprofit that doesn't name its funders. The top donor to the Republican Senate Leadership Fund was One Nation, a 501(c)(4), at more than $27 million. Both parties' allies use this structure.
Sources: Montana Free Press, Oct. 16, 2024; FEC, super PACs.
The coordination line, and where it leaks
A super PAC can spend unlimited money only because it's supposed to act on its own. If it works with the campaign, its spending counts as a contribution to the candidate, with all the limits and bans that come with that.
The federal rule
Under 11 CFR 109.21, an ad is coordinated when someone other than the campaign pays for it, its content meets one of the FEC's tests (like expressly backing a candidate, or naming a Senate or House candidate within 90 days of the election), and the conduct behind it meets another: the campaign asked for it, was materially involved, had substantial discussions about it, or passed along private plans through a shared vendor or a former staffer.
Montana's rule
Montana law calls spending "coordinated" when it's made "in cooperation with, in consultation with, at the request of, or with the express prior consent of" a candidate or committee or their agent. Coordinated spending counts as a contribution. Corporations can't give to candidates, so a corporation's coordinated spending is an illegal contribution.
The warning. These rules bind the campaign and the people acting for it. A lot of the people around a campaign aren't held to the same line, and messages can line up without anyone breaking the rule on paper. These are documented practices to recognize:
"Redboxing" on campaign websites
A campaign posts a box on its site, often red, with lines like "voters need to know" and notes on which voters to reach and through what kind of ad. Super PACs read it and run with it. The FEC rule says information from "a publicly available source" doesn't trigger coordination, and the FEC has found public posts like these aren't illegal. Reporters found it on more than a dozen Democratic campaign sites in 2026, and Republicans and party committees use it too.
Shared vendors
The same pollster, ad firm or mail house can work for a campaign and a super PAC. The federal rule only kicks in if the vendor served the campaign within the previous 120 days and passes along private campaign information, and a written firewall inside the firm is a safe harbor.
Staff who've left
The former-employee test covers people who worked for the campaign within the previous 120 days. After that window, a former staffer or consultant can go to work for an outside group without meeting it.
Surrogates and allied groups
Endorsing organizations, allied groups and supporters who aren't acting as the campaign's agents aren't covered by the coordination rule unless they act as its agent, and anyone can repeat what a campaign says in public. Watch for an outside group that echoes a campaign's message the same week.
Enforcement is thin. The Campaign Legal Center says federal anti-coordination laws are "virtually never enforced," and in 2026 the FEC didn't have enough commissioners to issue new binding rulings.
Sources: 11 CFR 109.21(a), (c), (d), (h); MCA 13-1-101(12), (13); MCA 13-35-227; Campaign Legal Center, Mar. 27, 2025; The Washington Sun and NOTUS, Aug. 26, 2026.
Montana has seen this before
1912: voters ban corporate election spending
Answering the copper barons' grip on state politics, Montana voters passed the Corrupt Practices Act by initiative. It barred corporations from spending on candidates for a century.
2010 to 2013: Western Tradition Partnership
A 2010 COPP report found the group was a political committee that used "sham" front groups to hide its spending and donors. In January 2013 a state judge found it used "subterfuge" to dodge Montana's disclosure law in the 2008 elections.
2012: the U.S. Supreme Court strikes the ban
The group, renamed American Tradition Partnership, challenged the 1912 law. The Montana Supreme Court upheld it, and in American Tradition Partnership v. Bullock the U.S. Supreme Court reversed that 5 to 4 without hearing arguments, citing Citizens United.
2016 and 2017: a legislator held liable
A Helena jury found former state Rep. Art Wittich illegally benefited from corporate contributions and services from American Tradition Partnership and related groups. The Montana Supreme Court upheld the verdict 5 to 0. COPP brought the case.
2024: a $225 million Senate race
Total spending in the U.S. Senate race passed $225 million by mid-October, more than half of it from PACs, with 14 groups accounting for over $118 million.
For outside spending in the 2026 races, search the candidate in the FEC's independent expenditure data. We'll add totals once final reports are in.
Sources: ATP v. Bullock background; 567 U.S. 516 (2012); FRONTLINE, Jan. 11, 2013; Yellowstone Public Radio, Aug. 23, 2017; Montana Free Press, Oct. 16, 2024.
Red flags to watch for
One of these alone proves nothing. Several together are worth a closer look.
| Red flag | Where to check |
|---|---|
| The "paid for by" name isn't registered anywhere | CERS for state races, FEC.gov for federal |
| The group formed weeks before the election | The registration date on its CERS or FEC page |
| Its top donors are other committees, LLCs or nonprofits | The contributions list on its reports |
| Large round-number transfers right before an ad buy | Dates and amounts on the contributions and spending lists |
| The trail ends at a nonprofit that doesn't name donors | Follow each donor until you hit one with no report |
| A super PAC ad repeats a campaign website's "voters need to know" lines | The campaign's site next to the independent expenditure filings |
| The campaign and an outside group use the same pollster, ad firm or mail house | The payee names on both groups' spending reports |
| A recent campaign staffer now works for the outside group | Payee and staff names on both groups' reports |
| No "paid for by" line at all | Report it to COPP |
What you can do
File a complaint with COPP
- Who handles it: Montana's Commissioner of Political Practices.
- What qualifies: a possible violation of Montana's campaign finance and practices laws or rules in a state or local race. Anyone can file.
- How to file: fill out the campaign finance complaint form. Describe the facts, cite the law you think was broken, and attach your evidence. Sign it in front of a notary and deliver it in person or by mail to COPP, 1209 Eighth Avenue, PO Box 202401, Helena, MT 59620-2401.
- What happens next: COPP accepts or rejects the complaint, usually rejecting only when it lacks jurisdiction. An accepted complaint goes on the public complaint docket and a copy goes to the person or group named. An investigator reviews the facts and the Commissioner issues a written decision. A dismissal for insufficient facts ends the matter, with no appeal. A "sufficiency decision" finds a violation. Most respondents then settle and pay a fine, and if they don't, the Commissioner or a county attorney can sue in district court. Decisions and settlements are posted with the complaint.
- Timeline: acceptance or rejection within five business days. There's no set deadline for the decision. It can come within days if public filings answer the question, or take longer if COPP needs a response and outside records.
- Questions: (406) 444-2942 or cpphelp@mt.gov.
File a complaint with the FEC
- Who handles it: the Federal Election Commission's Office of General Counsel and its six commissioners.
- What qualifies: a possible violation of federal campaign finance law in a U.S. Senate, U.S. House or presidential race. Anyone can file.
- How to file: put it in writing with your full name and address. Describe the facts, name each person or group involved, and attach your evidence, saying which facts you know firsthand. It must be signed, sworn and notarized. Email EnfComplaint@fec.gov or mail the Office of General Counsel, 1050 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20463.
- What happens next: the complaint becomes a numbered Matter Under Review (MUR). The FEC notifies each respondent, who gets 15 days to answer. Staff then rank the case under the FEC's Enforcement Priority System, and some cases go to dismissal or to settlement talks. Every step after that, from opening an investigation ("reason to believe") to finding "probable cause," settling or suing, takes the votes of at least four of six commissioners. Outcomes range from a letter reminding the respondent of the law to a conciliation agreement, which can include a fine.
- Timeline: respondents are notified within five days. No law sets a deadline for the whole case, and the FEC keeps it confidential until it closes. The file goes public within 30 days after closing. If the FEC dismisses your complaint, you can ask the federal court in D.C. to review it within 60 days. If 120 days pass with no action, you can sue.
- Questions: the FEC's guidebook for complainants and respondents walks through each stage.
Ask candidates to disclose
At a forum or in an endorsement questionnaire, ask: Will you name the outside groups spending for you? Will you ask them to name their donors? Do you share any vendors with them? Will you keep strategy off your public website?
Back disclosure laws, and read the reports
Support candidates and bills that strengthen Montana's disclosure rules, and watch what the 2027 Legislature does with I-194. Then read the reports yourself. A few minutes in CERS or on FEC.gov before you share a mailer tells you who paid for it.
Sources: COPP complaint form (08/17); COPP complaint procedure; FEC, how to file a complaint; FEC complaints process; FEC Guidebook for Complainants and Respondents.