I Changed My Mind About Small-Dollar Campaign Donors
The author argues that the rise of small-dollar campaign donations has made American politics more polarized and performative rather than cleaning up the system. Despite the intent to counter large corporate donors, these grassroots funds often fuel quixotic campaigns that prioritize viral moments over legislative viability.
Why it matters
This shift in campaign finance is fundamentally changing how politicians interact with voters and the incentives driving electoral strategies.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Getty. July 6, 2026, 6 AM ET Share Save Colorado’s rural Fourth Congressional District is Republican territory. In the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump carried it by 18 percentage points. Yet Eileen Laubacher, a former Navy rear admiral running as a Democrat there, has managed to raise nearly $10 million . The reason? The incumbent is Lauren Boebert, a publicity-hungry Republican despised by Democrats nationwide. In a show of solidarity with Laubacher (or, more accurately, antipathy toward Boebert), donors chipping in less than $200 have provided the bulk of the challenger’s funding, totaling at least $7.4 million.
The piece critiques the efficacy of grassroots fundraising and frames the behavior of small donors as performative, which aligns with conservative critiques of populist political trends.
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