Independent expenditures are political spending on communications—such as ads, mailers, texts, or digital content—that explicitly urge voters to elect or defeat a clearly identified candidate, and that are made entirely without cooperation or coordination with that candidate, their campaign, or any political party committee. They differ from contributions because the money is not given to the candidate’s campaign but is instead spent directly by outside individuals, PACs, super PACs, corporations, unions, or certain nonprofits to advocate for or against candidates. As long as the spending is truly independent—no material involvement, request, suggestion, or strategic discussion by the candidate or their agents—it is treated as an independent expenditure rather than an in‑kind or coordinated contribution. Under federal law and many state regimes, independent expenditures are generally unlimited in amount but must comply with disclaimer and disclosure rules that identify who paid for the communication and, in many jurisdictions, require public reporting once spending crosses certain thresholds. 

Independent expenditures are often criticized because, even though the spender must eventually file reports naming its donors once certain thresholds are met, those disclosures frequently come late in the election cycle or after voting has already occurred, limiting voters’ ability to evaluate who is behind the messaging in real time. When the spender is a 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organization, which generally does not have to publicly reveal its contributors, the true sources of the money can be routed through the nonprofit to a super PAC or used for independent expenditures directly, effectively obscuring the original donors and contributing to so‑called “dark money” in campaigns.