Once a warrior against dark money, Secretary of State Reagan does an about-face

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Back when she was a lawmaker and chair of the Senate Elections Committee, Arizona Secretary of State Michele Reagan made it her top priority to hold political campaigns accountable and shine a light on dark money.

As a senator, Reagan was one of the loudest and most consistent voices at the Capitol calling for more transparency in campaign spending and more accountability from elected officials.

She sponsored legislation to “ban dark money in Arizona” and make it a felony to attempt to hide the source of campaign cash by first passing it through multiple companies. Another one of her bills would have given the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission more authority to crack down on campaign finance violations.

As a candidate for secretary of state, she promised to usher in an era of sunlight in political spending.

But her former Senate colleagues who fought alongside her to end dark money and increase transparency in the election process say when she won the job, something changed. So do some of her critics.

The one-time dark money foe and transparency crusader did a complete about-face, her critics argue, and is now ushering in an era of anonymity in political spending and immunity for campaign scofflaws.

Read more at AZ Capitol Times

Corrie O'Connor