Cuando se ajusta a la inflación, la carrera para gobernador de Kentucky de este año se encuentra entre las más caras de la historia del estado. Los candidatos en las elecciones primarias y generales recaudaron más de $44,6 millones, según un análisis de OpenSecrets de los informes financieros de campaña. El principal financiador del gobernador demócrata Andy Beshear fue el Partido Demócrata de Kentucky. Tanto el KNP como Beshear están ahora bajo investigación civil por parte de los reguladores estatales de finanzas de campañas por supuestamente aceptar contribuciones políticas superiores al límite legal de parte de Randall Weddle, alcalde de London, Kentucky. El periodista de OpenSecrets Money in Politics, Jimmy Cloutier, dice que los donantes también desembolsaron importantes cantidades de dinero tanto al ganador, Beshear, como a su rival, el fiscal general republicano Daniel Cameron.

"Esta elección también generó mucho dinero de grupos políticos independientes que no estaban relacionados con la campaña. Esos grupos gastaron $45,3 millones adicionales, principalmente en anuncios negativos," expresó también Cloutier.

En junio, después de informar al Kentucky Lantern, Beshear anunció que su campaña y el Partido Demócrata de Kentucky sin darse cuenta recibieron $202.000 en contribuciones "excedentes" de Weddle, pero hicieron notar que el dinero fue reembolsado. La investigación está en curso, según el Registro de Financiamiento Electoral de Kentucky.

Cloutier menciona que el costo de las elecciones federales y, más recientemente, estatales ha aumentado dramáticamente en los últimos años, favoreciendo a aquellos con una presencia establecida en los medios y haciendo que sea más difícil para caras nuevas poner un pie en la puerta.

"Para un recién llegado a la política que quizás no tenga el mismo reconocimiento de nombre, estos totales de recaudación de fondos son difíciles de superar. Y por eso los costos electorales pueden ser prohibitivos," insistió también Cloutier.

Dado que este será el segundo mandato consecutivo de Beshear como gobernador, deberá esperar al menos un ciclo electoral antes de volver a postularse al cargo. Kentucky es uno de los 26 estados que permiten a los gobernadores ejercer un número ilimitado de mandatos de cuatro años.

El apoyo para este informe fue proporcionado por The Carnegie Corporation de Nueva York.


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Nearly 1,000 political scientists from across the U.S., including Montana, have signed a statement expressing how they feel the Trump administration's actions are threatening American democracy.

The letter, signed by experts at colleges and universities in both red and blue states, highlights six specific concerns. They include the administration's actions to cancel spending approved by Congress.

Montana State University Professor of Political Science Sara Rushing noted that while cutting expenses may be a good business strategy, democracy is not a business.

That's why, she said, there are checks and balances.

"We have these procedures and practices built in to slow things down, build consensus, abide by processes, and make sure that things are fair and transparent," said Rushing. "Efficiency has never been the preeminent value of democracy."

She encouraged her fellow political scientists not to strike a tone of neutrality because, as she put it, democratic procedures and stakes "shouldn't be up for debate."

In defense of its actions, the White House says it's ensuring all federal agencies are accountable to the American people, as required by the Constitution.

More than 29% of Montana's land base is public land managed by federal agencies.

Montanans who previously worked for those agencies were some of the first to be directly affected by federal cuts, after an initial round of firings in mid-February.

Rushing said she worries the government's commitment to efficiency will "break" the systems that protect public lands.

"So, you can break Yellowstone and make it function terribly," said Rushing, "and then you can make an argument for privatizing it and running it like a business. And that would be a massive loss - not just to Montanans, but to Americans as a whole."

According to a 2024 University of Montana survey, 95% of Montanans said they visited national public lands in the past year, and about half of those said they paid more than ten visits.

Support for this reporting was provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York.




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Nearly 1,000 political scientists from across the U.S. have signed a letter, saying American democracy is under threat based on the early actions of the new Trump administration. A North Dakota expert is among those speaking out. Those who added their names to the statement work for colleges and universities in both "red" and "blue" states. They highlight six specific areas of concern, including the administration acting unilaterally to cancel spending approved by Congress. They say moves like that undermine checks and balances.

Mark Jendrysik, a political science professor based in North Dakota, says he personally feels the nation is in a "constitutional crisis."

"The presidency is attempting to basically render Congress superfluous to almost every important decision, and the most important decision, which is how money is raised and spent," hew said.

He added that Congress, currently under Republican control, seems too willing to surrender that power and said this has been a crisis building for decades, with the executive branch trying to seize more control. In defending certain actions, the White House says it's ensuring that all federal agencies are accountable to the American people, as required by the Constitution.

But Jendrysik, who isn't speaking on behalf of the University of North Dakota where he teaches, says the arguments he's seen from the Trump administration don't hold up. He says he realizes some people choose not to pay attention to what's happening, but he thinks both Congress and citizens should be worried, too.

"Someone else smarter than me [once] said, 'When citizens stop saying "the public affairs aren't my concern," then the republic is lost,'" he continued.

The authors behind the statement say Trump fairly won last fall's election, but add that his
victory doesn't grant him the right to overturn the nation's constitutional and legal order. Other political observers say longtime dysfunction in Congress in addressing the nation's problems has allowed too many voters to consistently view the legislative branch as ineffective, giving rise to an administration willing to push legal and ethical boundaries.


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This week marks 15 years since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

The ruling reshaped campaign finance by allowing unlimited corporate and union spending in elections. The decision has left a profound mark on states like Ohio.

Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, highlighted its local impact at a roundtable discussion this week. But first, he remarked on the presence of billionaire donors at Monday's presidential inauguration.

"Oligarchy in America, boy, yesterday was a portrait of that," Morelle observed. "In Ohio, for example, an electric utility used dark money to cause state House lawmakers to ensure passage of a bill which bailed out the coal and nuclear plants, while rolling back clean energy standards."

American Electric Power reached a multimillion-dollar settlement after a federal investigation into its role in Ohio's House Bill 6 scandal. The Columbus-based utility announced it will pay a $19 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Virginia Kase Solomón, president and CEO of Common Cause, underscored the national and local consequences of unchecked political spending.

"Since the Citizens United decision happened, they have spent now 13 times the amount this election," Solomón pointed out. "It's no wonder that you have people who are nurses, teachers, firefighters, everyday Americans who are running for office and just simply can't compete, or who have opted out."

Beyond corporate influence, Solomon mentioned the unmeasured effect of in-kind contributions, such as media control and algorithmic bias. The panel members warned Citizens United has undermined democratic representation, even as proponents defend it as free speech.

Tiffany Muller, president of the advocacy group End Citizens United, was also critical of Ohio's controversial House Bill 6, legislation to secure financial support for the state's aging power plants. She suggested it exemplifies how dark money can influence state policy.

"FirstEnergy paid $60 million to get a $1.3 billion bailout," Muller noted. "The largest pay-to-play corruption scandal in that state's history."

She added the Ohio scandal is just one example of how money can shift priorities toward corporate interests at the expense of voters.

Reporting by Ohio News Connection in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.




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