A new report shows that the nine most competitive Senate races this fall, all of which involve senators with ties to the defense committees, are seeing a heavy presence of outside spending from groups that do not need to disclose donor identities, altering the usual campaign contribution landscape.

Though defense and aerospace firms typically donate more to political campaigns than most industries, their influence this election season may be outshined by “single-candidate groups” and “dark money groups,” suggests a new report, “Election Spending 2014: Nine Toss-Up Senate Races,” by Ian Vandewalker, counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program, run out of the New York University School of Law.CAPITOL

The single-candidate groups are not affiliated with a candidate and therefore not subject to Federal Election Commission donation limits, though they do have to disclose their donors’ identities in some cases. They devote their money to ads in support of a candidate or attacking the opponents.

Dark money groups, the newer trend Vandewalker identified, can keep their donors’ identities anonymous because “ads that don’t explicitly call for a vote for or against a candidate are not required to be reported unless they air shortly before an election,” Vandewalker wrote in his report, released Monday.

With the Republicans trying to take control of the Senate this year and Democrats working equally hard to keep their majority, Vandewalker said the conditions were right for feverish spending that throws conventional wisdom about campaign donation heavy-hitters out the window.

“Every year is a record-breaker, and this year–even though it’s a mid-term–they’re already on track to be another record-breaker,” he told Defense Daily in a phone interview Monday.

“Elected representatives are supposed to represent their constituents, but what we’re seeing over time is that their policy decisions tend to reflect those of the donor class more than the public at large,” he said, which is worsened by outside spending that reflects goals and priorities of national groups instead of state or local residents. This year in particular, “what you might call the conventional…way of doing business is getting thrown out the window and big money, it becomes this arms race almost, candidates have to raise more money” to keep up with the dark money groups.

And the trend isn’t likely to reverse itself just yet, Vandewalker said, noting that campaign contributions are increasing at an increasing rate. During his research, he said he heard more traditional donors saying that “we can’t say no anymore–every time an elected official comes to us to ask for a donation, we feel like we have to give in order to even have a voice.”

The nine Senate races included in this research were the nine “toss-ups” identified by the Cook Political Report. They include Senate Armed Services Committee members Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.); Senate Appropriations Committee members Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.); and the open seats left by retiring SASC chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), SASC member Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) and SAC member Tom Harkin (D-Iowa).

Vandewalker notes that the single-candidate groups are especially active in Georgia, Kentucky and Alaska, while the dark money groups have hit hard in North Carolina and Colorado.