A conservative nonprofit has been covertly funding super PACs with liberal-sounding names to influence Democratic primaries across the country. These groups have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to boost candidates perceived as weaker contenders in general elections, in an effort to engineer more favorable matchups for Republicans.
Local Angle
In Texas’ 35th District, Lead Left PAC spent over $750,000 on advertisements to support Maureen Galindo, a sex therapist and housing advocate. Despite the group’s name and messaging, filings show that Lead Left PAC received more than $3 million in May from Conservative Americans PAC, which is funded by American Prosperity Alliance, a Republican nonprofit with ties to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Galindo lost the primary runoff by nearly 30 points to Johnny Garcia. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee condemned the tactics, claiming that Republican efforts have backfired in the races, pointing to how concerns about Galindo powered Garcia to a landslide win.
National Implications
These efforts are part of a larger trend of both parties employing the strategy to obscure their activities and interfere in each other’s primaries. The tactics underscore the Wild West character of campaign finance in the wake of the Supreme Court’s landmark 2010 Citizens United decision and another federal court ruling that spurred the creation of super PACs that spend unlimited sums influencing elections.
Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.
