Campaign Fund-raising, Campaign Donations | featured news

Wall Street is paying big time to influence this election. The financial industry is on track to break its 2008 campaign spending record of $170 million, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics cited by CNNMoney. So far, Wall Street has spent $164 million donating to candidates and political groups, and CRP estimates the final tally of Wall Street cash will reach $2.5 billion.

President Obama's campaign is claiming another first: Donations by text message. The campaign said today that Obama supporters with smartphones can contribute up to $50 by texting "GIVE" to the number 62262.

Two court decisions Friday are likely to help set the ground rules for 2010 election fundraising: The Republican Party lost its bid to raise unlimited contributions, while a conservative group won approval to raise big donations for ads ...