Dems and GOP quietly bankroll dozens of third-party spoilers
· Axios
More than 40 third-party candidates in pivotal House and Senate races across the country are receiving support from outside super PACs, many of which have ties to the two major parties, an Axios analysis has found.
Visit aportal.club for more information.
Why it matters: The sums being thrown around, which total more than $16.5 million, are far greater than virtually any of those candidates have raised or spent on their own.
- The super PACs have spent an average of $375,000 more than the third-party candidates they are supporting. More than half of the 43 candidates haven't filed any financial paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.
- While it is a comparative drop in the bucket for a midterm that has already seen billions in ad spending nationally, the money will likely play an outsized role in races that are set to be decided by razor-thin margins.
- Those races, in turn, will help decide the balance of power in Congress next year.
The top spenders nationwide have been a pair of obscure groups which, like many of the other "pop-up" super PACs in this story, were formed this month and therefore won't have to disclose their donors until after Election Day.
- Buckeye Freedom PAC has reported spending more than $3.8 million on ads in Ohio's U.S. Senate election supporting Libertarian Bill Redpath and opposing Republican Sen. John Husted, who is in a tight race with Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown.
- Alaska Values PAC has disclosed spending $3.8 million backing Gerald Heikes, a self-identified Republican running on Alaska's ranked-choice U.S. Senate ballot with Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan and Democrat Mary Peltola.
Between the lines: Third-party candidates in Alaska are facing national scrutiny after the New York Times reported that Heikes and another self-proclaimed Republican on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, were recruited into the race.
- Republicans have long accused Dan J. Sullivan of being a spoiler meant to siphon votes from the incumbent senator by confusing voters with their shared name.
- The "double-Dan" case is unique in that it reportedly included direct involvement from a political operative working with the Peltola campaign, who allegedly used pseudonyms as part of the effort.
- The Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have denied recruiting any third-party candidates into the race.
Enough Promises Ohio is another huge spender, putting $2.6 million behind supporting independent Senate candidate Greg Levy in Ohio, per its FEC filings.
- The group's mailers encourage voters to "join the revolution" and "send a worker to the Senate" by voting for Levy, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation who has disavowed the support.
- The group's FEC filings offer hints as to its partisan affiliation: It shares vendors with several Republican candidates and groups including MAGA Inc.
Principled Patriots PAC has reported spending over $600,000 on digital ads supporting right-leaning and Libertarian candidates in 15 battleground House and Senate races, according to FEC filings and Google's Ad Transparency Center.
- The group's vendor for its ads, Movement Labs LLC, has primarily serviced Democratic clients, filings show. It touts itself as working for "progressive change everywhere."
- "Washington is spending money it doesn't have. Republicans raised the debt limit $5 trillion. Darline Graham is one of them," says a Principled Patriots' ad in the South Carolina Senate race — part of a $110,000 ad buy.
- Constitution Party candidate Mark Hackett, the ad continues, "lives here, works here, owes party bosses nothing. Not a Democrat, not a Republican. He'll end the waste, cut spending."
"I have spent no money and asked for no help in my campaign," Hackett said in an email to Axios. He said of the PACs supporting him: "I still don't know who they are."
- Hackett said he will "remain" in the race and suggested he is not concerned about being a spoiler for Graham "since neither Graham nor Andrews have made defunding the wars in Ukraine and Iran an issue."
Progressive Champions PAC, a group Republicans used to boost their preferred Democratic primary candidates in several battleground House districts, has quietly resurfaced in a pair of hotly contested general elections.
- In Virginia's 2nd District, the group has reported spending over $480,000 supporting independent Matthew Baker. One of its mailers, reported by the New York Times, highlights Baker's liberal positions on issues such as abortion.
- Baker, a self-described "radical centrist," told the Times the mailer makes him "mad as hell" because the group is "only telling half my story" and "trying to use me to trick people."
- Progressive Champions PAC also spent more than $500,000 on texts and mailers boosting Green Party candidate Shafina Barnett in Michigan's 4th District, according to filings.
Our Heritage Matters has reported spending nearly $3.7 million to support third-party candidates in more than two dozen House and Senate races, per FEC filings. Most of the candidates are Libertarians.
- The group's mailers advertise the candidates as the conservative alternative to the Republicans in each race.
- Much of its spending is also listed in FEC filings as being in opposition to the GOP candidates.
The Nebraska Senate race has seen easily the most separate instances of super PACs boosting third-party candidates — somewhat ironically, given Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts' chief rival is independent Dan Osborn.
- Outside groups have reported spending more than $450,000 supporting Robin Richards of the Working People Party and $115,000 boosting Mike Marvin of the Legal Marijuana Now Party.
- The group supporting Marvin, High Time Nebraska, shares a treasurer with a Republican House candidate in California, per filings. Its vendor, Potomac Strategy Group, is run by GOP operative Matt Mackowiak.
- Chuck Conboy of the America First Party, meanwhile, is one of the candidates supported by Principled Patriots PAC.
The intrigue: Axios reported last week that the House Democratic campaign arm put messaging guidance on its website laying out how to boost third-party candidates in several key races. It may have come in handy.
- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's page on VA-02 — known as a redbox — says white, college-educated men should see that Matthew Baker is "a staunch supporter of the 2nd amendment."
- Our Heritage Matters began spending for Baker on Wednesday with an initial $18,000 digital ad buy, according to filings.
The redbox on Nevada's 2nd District says Republican women in the district should be informed Independent American Party candidate Lynn Chapman "has spent decades fighting for conservative values."
- Principled Patriots, Our Heritage Matters and another group called Nevadans for Sensible Government have spent a collective $82,000 to boost Chapman's candidacy, per filings, including with mailers touting her opposition to abortion.