- Super PACs spent an average of $375,000 more than the third-party candidates they support. More than half of the 43 candidates have not filed any financial documents with the Federal Election Commission.
- While it’s a drop in the ocean for a midterm term that has already seen billions in ad spending nationally, money will likely play an outsized role in races expected to be decided by razor-thin margins.
- These races, in turn, will help decide the balance of power in Congress next year.
The biggest spenders in the country There are two obscure groups that, 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 Election Day.
- Buckeye Freedom PAC said it spent more than $3.8 million on ads in Ohio’s U.S. Senate election to support Libertarian Bill Redpath and oppose Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who is in a tight race with former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.
- Alaska Values PAC disclosed that it spent $3.8 million to support Gerald Heikes, a self-identified Republican who is running in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race 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-described Republican on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, had been recruited into the race.
- Republicans have long accused Dan J. Sullivan of being a spoiler intended to siphon votes from the incumbent senator by confusing voters with their common name.
- The “Double Dan” affair is unique in that it allegedly directly involves the involvement of a political operative working with the Peltola campaign, who allegedly used pseudonyms in connection with that campaign.
- The Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee have denied recruiting third-party candidates into the race.
Enough promises Ohio is another big spender, investing $2.6 million to support independent Senate candidate Greg Levy in Ohio, according to its FEC filings.
- The group’s letters 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 his support.
- The group’s filings with the FEC provide some indication of its partisan affiliation: it shares suppliers with several Republican candidates and groups, including MAGA Inc.
Principled Patriots PAC said it spent more than $600,000 on digital ads supporting right-wing and libertarian candidates in 15 battleground House and Senate races, according to filings by the FEC and Google’s Ad Transparency Center.
- The group’s vendor for its ads, Movement Labs LLC, primarily served Democratic clients, according to filings. He presents himself as working for “progressive change everywhere”.
- “Washington is spending money it doesn’t have. Republicans raised the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. Darline Graham is one of them,” says a Principles Patriots ad in the South Carolina Senate race – part of a $110,000 ad buy.
- Constitutional Party candidate Mark Hackett, the ad continues, “lives here, works here, owes nothing to party leaders. Neither Democrat nor Republican. He will end waste, cut spending.”
“I didn’t spend any money and has not asked for any 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 would “stay” in the race and suggested he was not worried about being a spoiler for Graham “since neither Graham nor Andrews have made defunding the wars in Ukraine and Iran an issue.”
Progressive Champions PACa group that Republicans had used to promote their favored Democratic candidates in primaries in several House districts has quietly resurfaced during two hotly contested general elections.
- In Virginia’s 2nd District, the group reported spending more than $480,000 to support independent Matthew Baker. One of his letters, 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 that the mailing made him “crazy as hell” because the group “is only telling half my story” and “is trying to use me to fool people.”
- Progressive Champions PAC also spent more than $500,000 on text messages and mailers to support Green Party candidate Shafina Barnett in Michigan’s 4th District, filings show.
Our heritage matters said it spent nearly $3.7 million supporting third-party candidates in more than two dozen House and Senate races, according to FEC filings. Most of the candidates are libertarians.
- The group’s letters present the candidates as the conservative alternative to Republicans in each race.
- Much of his spending is also listed in FEC filings as being in opposition to GOP candidates.
The Nebraska Senate race easily saw the most distinct cases of super PACs boosting third-party candidates — somewhat ironically, given that Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts’ primary rival is independent Dan Osborn.
- Outside groups reported spending more than $450,000 supporting Robin Richards of the Working People Party and $115,000 supporting Mike Marvin of the Legal Marijuana Now party.
- One of the candidates, Chuck Conboy of the America First Party, is supported by the Principled Patriots PAC.
The plot: Axios reported last week that the House Democratic campaign arm posted messaging tips on its website explaining how to boost third-party candidates in several key races. This may have been helpful.
- The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s page on VA-02 — known as redbox — says college-educated white men should see that Matthew Baker is “a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment.”
- Our Heritage Matters began spending on Baker on Wednesday with an initial digital ad buy of $18,000, according to filings.
The red box on Nevada’s 2nd District, Republican women in the district should be informed. Independent American Party candidate Lynn Chapman “spent decades fighting for conservative values.”
- Principle Patriots, Our Heritage Matters and another group called Nevadans for Sensible Government collectively spent $82,000 promoting Chapman’s candidacy, according to filings, including with mailers touting his opposition to abortion.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to remove a reference to a connection between High Time Nebraska and GOP operative Matt Mackowiak and to correct the spelling of Jon Husted’s first name.
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