The Effect of the Citizens United v. FEC Ruling on Independent Expenditures in the 2006 and 2012 United States Senate Elections

Jared T. Kolok
Dr. John Quinn, Faculty Mentor

It is hypothesized that the Citizens United decision caused an increase in independent expenditures for Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate. Data are mostly collected from the Federal Election Commission and the 2000 and 2010 censuses. A t-test is first used to determine if, generally, the Citizens United decision increased independent expenditures. Linear regression analysis was then used to determine the impact of Citizens United v. FEC on Senatorial elections in the 2006 and the 2012 elections. It is, therefore expected that Citizens United and independent expenditures on Republican Senate campaigns are positively correlated. The results suggest that Citizens United did increase independent expenditures from the 2006 to the 2012 election. Furthermore, the results suggest that an increase in independent expenditures for Republican Senatorial campaigns is correlated with the Citizens United decision in 2010.

Keywords: Citizens United v. FEC, Campaign finance , Independent expenditure, U.S. Senate elections

Topic(s):Political Science

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA