DARK MONEY GROUPS like AIPAC and their billionaire donors have already spent millions in Chicago elections.

RECENT RACES show how dark money relied heavily on low-turnout districts to get easy wins. Their growing influence here and across the country is ruining our lives and our futures.

IF WE DON'T INVEST in true political education where it matters most, it’s only a matter of time before dark money takes over everywhere.

AT DEMOCRACY UNBOUGHT, our mission is to grow political education on Chicago’s South and West sides and defeat dark money up and down the ballot.

Who We Are

Democracy Unbought was born out of Anabel Mendoza’s congressional campaign for IL-07, where multiple opponents sold out to the destructive interests of dark money.

Whether it was the real estate lobby or AIPAC’s Super PAC that spent millions to try to buy the seat, Anabel made it clear:

DARK MONEY IS

actively infiltrating low-turnout districts
attempting to take advantage of lower voter engagement
trying to control election outcomes
pushing a power-hungry agenda to fuel profit, war and genocide abroad
increasing corruption and raising costs for us here at home.

Who We Serve

Democracy Unbought was designed with and by community leaders on Chicago’s South and West Sides as an urgent investment in grassroots political education among the city’s low-propensity communities.

What We Know

Transforming dark money’s corrosive influence isn’t just about mobilizing more first-time voters; it’s about equipping low-propensity communities with the knowledge to understand how these forces are actively working to worsen their everyday lives and how their collective power can be leveraged to demand true representation.

We can defeat dark money and stop its corruption.

But we need‍ your help.

Democracy Unbought is a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Illinois. We have filed an application for recognition as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and are awaiting a determination letter from the IRS.