Arizona's former Attorney General Terry Goddard wants to pull back the curtain and let voters see who is behind major campaign donations statewide.
The two-term Democrat AG has already formed a campaign committee to put the "Right to Know" initiative on the ballot.
It would let Arizonans know who is trying to sway their vote on everything from statewide offices to school board members.
Campaign consultant Bob Grossfeld said it's not accurate to call large untraceable donations "Dark Money."
"We're done with this whole 'dark money' nonsense. This is 'dirty money'," Grossfeld insisted, "This is no different than criminal syndicates who are laundering money. "
They reject any claims, past and present, that disclosing donors impacts free speech rights.
"Folks can say whatever they want, run commercials, run ads, even if they're unsavory. They have a constitutional right to do that," he assured.
Arizona law already requires anyone who donates to influence a campaign file a report, but a loophole in the Internal Revenue Code allows big donors to bypass that requirement.
Goddard and Grossfeld believe they can gather the 225,963 valid signatures needed by July 5 to get the initiative on the 2018 ballot.
