Editor's Note: This letter remains in the condition it was sent.
New Yorkers have just lived through two of the most expensive election seasons in our country’s history. At least $58.9 million was spent on New York’s 2024 state elections, and at least $230.9 million on this year’s congressional races.
The size of these numbers is only half the problem. The other half is that voters often can’t tell where this money comes from. Case in point, a New York Times investigation has found that at least $1 billion spent in the 2026 midterms came from anonymous “dark money” donors.
The bigger these numbers grow, the less confident working families feel that our elections reflect their interests. Worse, months of nonstop attack ads and fundraising pleas have only left us feeling more divided.
Yet, Americans agree on one thing. In a May 2026 Pew Research Center survey, voters across party lines ranked money in politics as the biggest problem our nation faces, above health care, costs and inflation. Similarly, a recent American Promise poll found that 83% of voters ages 18 to 29 with different political ideologies and party affiliations, believe money is a major issue in politics, with 43% stating that they are less motivated to vote because of it.
However, there is good news. A constitutional amendment, H.J. Res. 191, was introduced in Congress this summer. Once ratified, it would restore the power of Congress and the states to set reasonable limits on money in our elections. It has bipartisan support, and New York’s legislature has already joined 24 other states in calling for an amendment solution.
Americans didn’t win the right to govern ourselves so that a handful of donors could buy it back. We can’t let our voices be drowned out in another election. Tell your representative to support the For Our Freedom Amendment and protect self-government for generations to come.
Lucy Moschitto
Sophomore, Political Science
American Promise Fellow
