The black market for campaign email lists

GettyImages-488667646.jpg
According to Politico's Shane Goldmacher, presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have spent millions on this funding strategy.  Kai Ryssdal
GettyImages-488667646.jpg
According to Politico's Shane Goldmacher, presidential hopefuls Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have spent millions on this funding strategy.  Kai Ryssdal

The black market for campaign email lists

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

The 2016 GOP presidential contest has been awash with contenders for the Oval Office and even as candidates have washed out during the political season there has been a valuable market that has sprung up for the information gathered during campaigning. Shane Goldmacher, a reporter at Politico who covers the campaign, looked into the little-publicized practice of donor revenue sharing, where donor email lists are rented out in exchange for a return of the gathered funds. Candidates like Sen. Marco Rubio  (R-Fla.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) have spent millions of dollars on this fundraising strategy, which means that a dollar donated to their campaign may not actually go into their pockets.

Read Goldmacher’s story over at Politico.